Judging Innocence
by Fabs G
Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify…
1. Unpredictable

Title: Judging innocence (1/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

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Chapter 1: Unpredictable 

**July 24th, 1995**

"Are you sure it's this way, Harry? I would go right…" Remus looked to the muggle street that ran to his right. The way the sunlight was hitting on it seemed to be the way to Privet Drive.

"As if I could forget my way to _that_ house" snorted Harry, not changing direction.

"Remus, you're a _pure_blood" Sirius expertly faked Snape's voice "Harry and I are half, we're _some_what immune to the Privet Drive spells. You're not"

Harry turned around and faced Sirius "You're half?"

"Mum was a witch, dad a muggle"

Harry, Sirius and Remus finally reached number 4, Privet Drive. Petunia Dursley was outside, and much to Harry's surprise, she wasn't gossiping with the next door neighbor, but working on the garden. It actually was the ideal day to do so, it was a beautiful summer day, the sun was shining bright, the birds were chirping, and the sky was as blue it could ever be. 

In Sirius' words, the day was disgustingly perfect.

As soon as she saw Harry, she stood up, throwing the shovel aside, ready to start yelling at Harry. But no sooner had she yelled for her husband, that she notice the two adults behind her nephew. One of them, tall and well built, quite handsome, with jet-black hair and a pair of blue eyes that were looking fiercely at her, had his hand over one of Harry's shoulders. After some seconds of thinking and squinting at the man, she recognized him as the one who had appeared in the news cast two years ago. The other man, she recognized as the one who had picked Harry up 10 days ago. Upon seeing Remus' robes, he knew he was no primary school teacher, and that he had blatantly lied to them.

She would have taken on the men herself for the pleasure of yelling at Harry, but facing two grown wizards with their wands out was something she considered suicidal. She stumbled back and turned around to enter to her house, only to run into her husband and son. Dudley, however, as soon as he saw two grownups wearing robes, run upstairs as quick as his thick legs let him. 

Vernon Dursley, however, let his wife enter the house and remained under the doorframe, looking at Harry almost as furious as Sirius was looking at him. 

"Uncle Vernon" said Harry, with obvious sarcasm in his voice "How nice to see you again"

Vernon looked like he could have strangled Harry in the spot but restrained himself from doing so because of his strong suspicion that the man on Harry's left was his godfather. Harry raised his right hand and pointed at Remus "May I have the pleasure of introducing you Remus Lupin," Harry looked at Remus, who was torn between laughing at Harry's irony and killing Vernon with his bare hands. "A very dear friend of my parents. And this is Sirius Black, another friend of my parents, and also my godfather. I believe you have heard about him" Harry flashed uncle Vernon his widest grin.

Vernon saw his worst fears confirmed and made an attempt to close the door behind him, but Sirius stretched one of his muscular arms, and easily pushed the door wide open.

Sirius spoke with such and uncharacteristic calmness that made Harry and Remus nervous. "We've just come to pick up Harry's things." He entered the house, shoving Vernon aside, and took his wand out of the pockets of his cloak. "Accio trunk!" Two frightened shrieks were heard upstairs and some seconds later, Harry's trunk floated downstairs and fell down at Sirius' feet, who shrank it enough to make it fit into his pocket. He looked at Harry, who was now under the doorframe, with Remus close behind him, keeping an eye at Vernon. He looked so mad at Harry that Remus felt the impulse of placing a protective arm across Harry's chest. "What else Harry?"

Harry thought hard if he had anything left upstairs, besides Hedwig's cage. Ten days ago, when Remus had picked him up, Harry had left everything he owned inside his trunk.

"Just Hedwig's cage"

Sirius repeated the process with Hedwig's empty cage and faced Vernon again, coming so close to the man, his noses nearly met. Or rather, Sirius' nose and Vernon's forehead nearly met, because Sirius was much taller than Vernon. None of them had lost the fierce look in his eyes.

"What I'm about to tell you is as good news for you as it is for me" For the first time, Vernon looked intrigued "Look at Harry now…" Vernon didn't "because that's the last time you'll see him. You'll never come across his path again. I've made sure of that."

With that, he turned around and left the house with his friend and godson, leaving behind Vernon Dursley hoping that he had talked the truth…

**July 14th, 1995. Ten days earlier.**

Remus Lupin woke up in his house and, very groggily, thought why he had that killer headache that seemed to be splitting his head in two. Suddenly, a very familiar yell reminded him of the present situation.

"MOONY!"

Sirius, of course. They had stayed late last night, and the night before (a little too late perhaps) remembering old times, catching up, but mostly enjoying each other's company after 12 years of being apart. (Plus, one year of Sirius being on the run) And, somewhere in between, someone had conjured up some beer and couple of bottles of wine.

It had been a wonderful night but…

"MOONY WEAK UP YOU LAZY WOLF!"

…but the hangover was about to finish him off.

There was a mild note of desperation in Sirius' voice "Yes, I'm up Sirius" he yelled downstairs while sitting up in his bed and squinting his eyes at the open window. The sun was so bright and so up into the sky, it must be noon, deduced Remus. He dressed with some muggle clothes and, after a not so quick stop at the bathroom, found Sirius in the kitchen, who looked as he also had a killer hangover. His hair looked like if an extremely angry Quintaped had stomped on his head. When he got closer to his friend, he saw his surprise at some article in the Daily Prophet he was holding. In front of him, a broken cup that Sirius had probably dropped had spilled coffee all over the floor.

"Sirius, what is it? Another Rita Skeeter article about Harry?" Remus yawned. He took his wand and repaired the broken cup.

Sirius shook his head and handed the newspaper to his friend. When he saw the headline of the Daily Prophet, the recently repaired cup was dropped once again to the floor and cracked to pieces.

_The Daily Prophet, July 14th, 1995_

**PETER PETTIGREW IS ALIVE AND WELL **

AND IN YOU-KNOW-WHO'S SIDE 

**~º~  
HE WAS CAPTURED YESTERDAY AFTER SETTING UP A DARK MARK**.

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Trial's eve

Title: Judging innocence (2/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

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Chapter 2: Trial's eve 

_The Daily Prophet, July 14th, 1995_

**PETER PETTIGREW IS ALIVE AND WELL**

** AND IN YOU-KNOW-WHO'S SIDE**

**~º~  
HE WAS CAPTURED YESTERDAY AFTER SETTING UP A DARK MARK**.

_By Methilda Shotclear_

_   You-Know-Who's downfall official story goes that when he tried to kill little Harry Potter, he met his end, but there's more to the story that everyone knows._

_Presumed Death Eater Sirius Black, who escaped from Azkaban two years ago, was imprisoned without a trial for killing his friend Peter Pettigrew, along with other 13 muggles. What very few people know was that Pettigrew, a very dear friend of Harry's family, had sought Black out after he discovered that Black had betrayed James and Lily Potter's trust by giving Voldemort their secret location. Pettigrew tried to take on Black himself, but Black was quicker and killed him, along with the rest of the witnesses, who were all muggles. _

_The biggest piece of Pettigrew found was a finger, which was sent to Mr. Pettigrew's mother, together with his wand and the Order of Merlin, first class._

   _The story, however, has changed drastically in the past twenty-four hours. Yesterday morning, the dark mark was seen hovering over the Weasley home. _−Sirius and Remus felt their hangovers being momentarily replaced with the coldest of sensations in the pit of their stomachs.−_ Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Articles Office at the Ministry of Magic, his wife and 6 of his 7 children were out of the house yesterday, paying a visit to some relatives, and luckily no one was hurt. However, their third son, Percy, had just returned to his home when he saw the dark mark. Knowing the house was empty he did not panic for his family and this led to his easier capture of the man who was running from the scene. Percy Weasley works for the Ministry and therefore was shocked upon recognizing the man he had just petrified- none other than Peter Pettigrew, who had been dead for 14 years._

_Percy Weasley took Pettigrew to the Ministry, where he was examined by mediwizards. These were shocked when they were checking him and, by sheer accident, discovered that Pettigrew is also an illegal animagus, who can transform into a rat. Pettigrew is now under heavy custody in a secret location. Ministry spokesmen and different employees have assured it is not Azkaban. _

_"Pettigrew is a Death Eater." confirmed one of the spokesmen " That we could confirm simply by looking at his left arm and seeing the dark mark tattooed there. We used the Prior Incantato on his wand and we are completely sure he set up the dark mark. Although Pettigrew confessed very little, the horizon looks a little clearer now for Black. The Ministry is willing to give Black a fair trial, because Pettigrew being alive matches the story Black repeated time and time again 14 years ago. Of course, Black would have to show up for that" he sneered finally._

The ministry is expecting to have word from Black at any second, and have assured that his safety and well being will be guaranteed should he-"  
  


At this point, Sirius felt like he could skip the rest of the article and sat down in the chair nearest to him, completely sure that if he didn't his knees would fail him. He still felt terrible from the biggest hangover in his life, but he could feel a tiny small smile was forming in his lips. A trial? He would have to come out of hiding. Was it wise? If the trial did not turn out the way he wanted, he'd be Kissed, and although the thought made him shudder, what worried him more about being Kissed was Harry and Remus. 

Remus finished reading the article and kneeled in front of his friend. Sirius looked at Remus. Moony. What would happen to Moony if Sirius was Kissed? He'd probably have to spend the rest of his life- and the rest of his transformations- alone. He knew Moony too well to hope that he'd move on. If Sirius were in Remus' place he would not be able to move on.

And Harry. Sirius trembled visibly at the thought of leaving Harry to his relatives.

Remus shook his friend a little to get his mind out of limbo "Sirius" he looked at Remus "Now listen to me, carefully. This is what we will do. First, we will have a proper breakfast and a good dose of coffee because we can't even stand up properly thanks to our late night" Sirius chuckled and life returned to the previously lost eyes. This simple chuckle made Remus relax considerably "Then we will contact Dumbledore. I'll go by Floo to Hogwarts and bring him, so you can talk-"

Remus was cut short by a voice that came from the next room.

"Remus? Sirius?" They recognized Dumbledore's voice.

"In here!" Yelled the two marauders.

Sirius did not trust himself to stand up. Remus did, and met Dumbledore in the doorframe, who before saying or doing anything, gave Remus a gobletful of the Wolfsbane potion. Remus drank it till the last drop and sat besides Sirius, who was very pale.

"Let me guess" Dumbledore said. He looked very amused by Sirius's wild bed hair and Remus' constant yawning. "Late night, catching up, alcohol included. If my memory still works and if you haven't changed your Hogwarts habits, GoodElf Beer and some Billywig peanuts"

Sirius and Remus couldn't help but burst into laughter at Dumbledore's astonishing memory, and they pointed at the dustbin near the fridge, with _too many_ empty Billywig Peanuts packages and a _good_ amount of empty beer cans.

The ice had been broken, and Dumbledore took the newspaper that had been forgotten over the table. "I see you've received the news"

"Is it true? Am I finally going to have a trial? A fair one?"

Dumbledore nodded gently. "If they get word from you today, the trial will probably begin next week. That is to say, in three days. They've already contacted me and Hagrid and I'm sure they'll contact you, Remus, and Harry and Ron shortly"

Sirius' head shot upwards and looked at Dumbledore. "Ron? Contact Harry? He will testify?"

"Of course"

"Someone has to get to him before he gets the owl. He can't receive _such_ news in that way"

"Yes, that's partly why I'm here. Remus, would you be so kind to go to 4 Privet Drive and bring Harry here?"

"What about his… protection?"

"I've momentarily disabled some of the spells there and I'm working on setting up most of the protection spells around here, the usual no apparition, anti-Death Eater, the basic ones."

Remus went upstairs briefly to change into some less worn out muggle clothes and returned back downstairs. Before dissaparating, he took the Daily Prophet and put it in the back pocket of his jeans; then he looked at Sirius and flashed him a crooked grin "Don't do anything stupid" And with a 'pop' he was gone.

**4 PRIVET DRIVE**

Vernon Dursley wasn't in a good mood. Actually, he hadn't been in a good mood since some days ago, when his nephew had returned from that school. Luckily for Vernon, Harry seemed to despise him as much as he despised Harry, so they avoided each other as much as they could. That is, Harry stayed in his room nearly all the time reading those wretched books.

And Harry couldn't have asked for a better way to spend his summer. Well, he could have, but pondering the possibilities, this was considered bliss in the Dursley residence: See no Dursley, hear no Dursley, speak no Dursley.

But every blessing has its little nightmares, and for Harry these were breakfast and dinner. That morning Harry went into the kitchen, fully expecting to have aunt Petunia yell at him- he was up later than usual- and commanding him to prepare breakfast. But when he went into the kitchen, he almost fell backwards of the shock. 

Remus Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table, chatting very amiably with his aunt and uncle.

And what was even more shocking, Vernon and Petunia seem to _like_ Lupin.

Harry went through various theories as to why he was there. He first thought he was still asleep. He had to be, Lupin would never be in _that_ house. But the theory went to the trashcan after he pinched himself and it hurt.

Then he thought he had forgotten his glasses and wasn't seeing properly. After feeling the cold frame against his skin, he shut his eyes very tight and then opened them again to find a very amused Remus staring at him. 

And the last theory, and the one that made more sense and the one that Harry feared the most, was that something bad was going on. If this train of thought was indeed correct, _If_ Sirius was safe, he would never make it there without being captured; Dumbledore was way too busy to visit the muggle world; Mr. Weasley had surely had enough of the Dursleys for a life time; Mrs. Weasley didn't even know where Harry lived, and Lupin, as far as he knew, was available. 

Remus squinted at him as if he was reading something stamped on his forehead and flashed a crooked grin at him. It made him look nearly 10 years younger. If he's grinning, Harry thought, then nothing can be terribly wrong. "Harry! Glad you could join us! Come, sit here beside me" He patted the chair to his right, which was dangerously close to uncle Vernon.

In order not to spoil any story Lupin might have made up, Harry utter a simple 'hi', placed his best bewildered look on his face –which, in the end, was completely sincere- and sat down besides Lupin, discreetly moving the chair towards Lupin and far from uncle Vernon.

"Harry, do you know why I'm here?"

"Uuhh… no"

"I thought so. You do remember me, from your primary school? Mr. Wolf, your Natural Science teacher."

Harry swallowed the laughter and quickly shifted into his best actor mode "Of course, yes. How couldn't I?"

"Very well, very well. I'm here, because I need an assistant in a field trip to a not so nearby forest I'll take today, and remembering you from my classes, I thought you'd be useful to me, you know to carry all my things. Your aunt and uncle have already agreed to it" he added quickly, smiling to Harry's relatives such a fake smile, Harry fought hard not to laugh.

It didn't matter where Lupin was _really_ taking him; Harry nodded fervently. Anything Lupin-connected was better than where he already was "Field trip? Oh I'd love to! How long-?"

"Well, I quite don't know the length of my trip, maybe it'll be a week, and maybe it'll be two months, it's very dependable on the circumstances. Of course, you'll be back in time to go to St. Brutus's"

"We have no problem" uncle Vernon smiled his best fake smile at Lupin, and Harry was sure that under the table, he was crossing his fingers.

"Excellent then! Harry, if your aunt and uncle allow, would you please show me to your room, and I'll tell you what you need to get"

Finally upstairs, Harry closed tightly the door. "Professor, what-?" 

He was cut short by Lupin, who held two fingers up in the air. He took his wand out of one of his pockets, and pointed it at the door, muttering something under his breath.

He took his wand to his lips and spoke to its tip like if it was a microphone "OK, Harry. Yes, you will definitively need this… and bring some of those over there… Here, I have this bag for you. Put them in, now. No, no, NO! Don't even think about bringing that!" He directed his wand again at the door, muttered something under his breath once more, and then finally faced Harry. "I'm so relieved that you're a much better actor than your father was! His definition of acting was burst into fits of giggles…"

"Professor, Lupin, what-?"

"I have three things to tell you. The first of which, that was the marauder's version of a silencing charm. If your uncle decides to eavesdrop, he'll hear what I just spoke to the wand, or different versions of it, and not what we really are saying, but we will be able to hear them from here.

The second thing I have to tell you… Harry, I'm not your professor anymore, I practically saw you being born, and the fourth word you ever learnt, after mom, dad and Padfoot, was Moony. I think it's time for you to call me Remus"

Harry smiled at him "Sure. I'll try"

"And the third thing I have to tell you…" he sat down on the bed, next to were Harry was. He sighed loudly "Peter was captured"

Harry felt as if all the air in the room had suddenly being sucked out of it, and left him gasping for more. He tried to find the words to ask the million questions that had been born in his mind, but he seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

Remus handed him the morning edition of the Daily Prophet, and after Harry finished reading the article, he had to lean back on the bed. So much information, at once, plus the mild heart attack he got when he feared that Ron or his brothers or his parents had been hurt made him extremely dizzy.

"Harry, are you ok?"

"Yeah, just… amazingly dizzy. For a moment, I thought that Ron…" throat to tight to speak, he trailed, knowing that Lupin would understand perfectly what it was to fear, and suffer, the loss of a friend.

"Of course" he squeezed Harry's hand and smiled a sad at him "Plus, all the amount of information. Stand up Harry" He stood up from the bed, muttered some words to Harry's trunk while pointing his wand after taking Harry's wand out of it, and held a hand for Harry to stand up.

"What…" he still felt his head like in a merry-go-round.

"I'm going to apparate you at my house, don't worry about your trunk, I placed a locking spell on it." Harry nodded gently "Now, apparating oneself is easy, but apparating someone else is a little more complicated. You try not to think in any place in particular, I'll be doing that part. If you can keep your mind blank, even better. And... come here" he hugged Harry tightly "Close your eyes, and hold on to me as closely and firmly as you can, or we'll get ourselves splinched. Ready?"

Harry was too dizzy to feel uncomfortable. His muffled voice came from somewhere a littler lower than Remus' chest "As I'll ever be"

Harry thought he'd feel a whirl, or something similar to the portkey, but after merely two seconds, Remus spoke again "That's it. You can open your eyes"

"Really? I feel myself twirling."

"Everything's quiet around Harry, I promise. Sirius take him, he's not feeling too well." At the sound of Sirius' name, Harry opened his eyes and let go of Remus, who immediately went into the next room.

He was standing in a corner of a cozy kitchen, and sitting at the table in the middle of the kitchen, were Dumbledore and Sirius. As soon as he heard Remus' words, Sirius crossed the kitchen and held Harry by his arms, fearing he might fall.

Sirius looked much better than he had when Harry had seen him in the cave. For a start, his hair was shorter and cleaner, and someone had provided him with new robes. Now that he was eating on a daily basis, his body had begun to fill again and his muscles were growing. Sirius seemed to be one of those people that got a very good body without much effort. He was again the handsome man that smiled and waved from the Potter's wedding photograph.

Remus returned to the room with a huge bar of chocolate ("Eat it. Don't leave a piece"), and after explaining how much Harry knew and what had happened, he sat Harry in a chair and crossed his arms, fixing his eyes on him.

Harry looked up at him from the bazillionth piece of chocolate. "Don't look at me like that, you remind me of Madam Pomfrey" 

Sirius, who had kneeled besides Harry, barked a laugh and Dumbledore's voiced everyone's thoughts "You actually do, Remus"

Remus laughed and sat down. Dumbledore eyed everyone and spoke very clearly and very slowly. Finally, he looked at Sirius.

"OK, listen to me very carefully. I will now go to the Ministry and tell them that you are going to attend at your trial. I will tell them that you will go to the Ministry the first day of the trial, that you will not reveal where you are hiding, and will assist with two conditions, or more if you want to. The first condition is that there will be NO dementors anywhere near the place, and the second condition is that as they will have their guards, Remus will be your own personal bodyguard, and will be with you at all times. And of course, you will not be taken to Azkaban. Agree?"

Sirius and Remus nodded, but Harry looked at Dumbledore, determination flashing through his eyes "I will be with Sirius all the time, too. I will not leave him with Fudge's people"

"Remus will make sure nothing happens to him"

"I know, and I know he will, but nonetheless, I will be with him too. If Fudge refuses to accept the simple fact that Voldemort is back to power, he won't accept something like Sirius being innocent. He's too narrow-minded"

Dumbledore nodded and stood up, ready to leave. "I am extremely busy, and I've already talked to Sirius, so I trust he'll answer any questions. I'll owl you with the date and time of the trial. Harry, are you feeling better?"

After seeing Harry nod, he took some Floo powder from his pocket, went into the fire and they saw him disappear.

"I will have to testify, won't I? That's why Dumbledore wants me out of Privet Drive"

Sirius nodded. "And Ron too, you'll have to owl him soon"

"Ron? Why Ron?"

"I practically kidnapped him? I broke his leg?"

Harry accepted these as good reasons as to why Ron had to testify

"How long do wizard trials last? The muggle ones can be very long, months some of them"

Remus shook his head "Usually they don't last that long. Sirius' case is a complicated one but they only have witnesses, and very few –I'd say none- material evidence. I'd give it a week the most. Two in the most remote of cases, but I seriously doubt it. Sirius' fate could be decided in a day if they are not in the mood to drag the trial very much. The questioners -they're special wizards whose sole purpose is to ask- usually grow tired very soon and use Veritaserum"

"They'll probably use it just on Peter and me"

Remus nodded and for some moments everything was silent.

Harry started thinking out loud "I have to owl Hermione, she will want to be in the trial. And Hagrid, he thinks you're a murderer. Actually, he would murder you himself, but…"

Sirius found this amusing, and chuckled "Dumbledore already talked to him"

"Still, I want to owl him, I don't want him to think I don't trust him"

Remus smiled at Harry "And making sure he'll say things in Sirius' favor"

"And added bonus, of course"

They were all silent again for some minutes, deeply lost in their thoughts. 

Finally, Sirius uttered something, which the three of them had been feeling in their bones "This is going to be a very long week…"

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~


	3. The start of it all

Title: Judging innocence (3/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

Extra point for you if you find a hidden X-Files reference. ;)

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Chapter 3: The start of it all 

They got Dumbledore's owl that very same day, and the Daily Prophet published the place and time of the trial the very next day. The ministry was walking on eggshells now that they had realized they might have imprisoned an innocent man for 12 years, and they accepted Dumbledore's conditions –or rather, Sirius' conditions- without so much as a word about it. The trial would begin on Monday 17th. Today was Friday 14th.

They spent three strange days. Each of them needed a lot of time to be alone. They arranged with Dumbledore not to tell about Buckbeak, because it will get the hippogriff killed and Harry in a lot of trouble, but to say that Sirius had escaped in his animagus form. Remus rested as much as he could due to Tuesday's full moon, but most of the time Sirius and Remus told Harry stories. About his parents and about the Marauders, about their short time with him as a baby and about his parent's relationship, because none of them wanted to think a lot about what would begin on Monday. 

The night before the trial, nothing seemed out of place. Remus and Sirius transfigured Remus' king size bed into twin beds, sharing his room, and they let Harry sleep comfortably in the guestroom, where Sirius had slept till the day Harry arrived. In spite of the awkwardness of living together, at least for a while, they spent the night normally, and when it was time to go to bed, they said goodnight normally, expecting a night of the much needed sleep.

Still, the only one who could sleep, at least at intervals, was Remus, and he did it only because of the closeness of the full moon. Early in the morning, and checking Remus was asleep, Sirius got dressed and crept out of the bedroom. He was tired of tossing and turning on the bed, and not wanting to wake up his friend, he decided to have a very early breakfast.

He was surprised to find Harry in the kitchen, who either did not know anything of wizard cooking or wasn't hungry at all. Sirius would have bet anything it was both.

"Want some help?"

Harry turned around from the coffee he was trying to prepare and stared at his godfather, and then back at his pitiful attempt. "It'd be nice"

Sirius took Harry's wand from his hands and prepared breakfast for the three of them like an expert. In 5 minutes, lots of coffee had been done, the bread had been toasted to perfection, some marmalade had been conjured up out of thin air and, the simplest of all, he took some milk from the fridge.

"You'd make a good housewife" Harry teased him while he was bringing everything to the table. Sirius took a paper napkin, wrinkled it into a ball, and tossed it to his godson with perfect aim.

Although they were not hungry, they knew better than going to a trial that would probably last for hours with their stomachs empty. 

Two hours later, when Remus was already up and they were about to leave, someone knocked at the door. They looked at each other and Remus got up and went into the living room to open the door, hoping with all of his might it wouldn't be the Daily Prophet. Luckily it wasn't, and as soon as Remus opened the door, a bushy-haired, 14-year-old figure let out a sigh of relief when she saw Remus.

"Professor! Finally!"

From the kitchen, Harry and Sirius recognized Hermione's voice and went to the living room. As soon as Hermione saw Harry she barely had time to greet Sirius when she ran to Harry and flung her arms around him "Harry! You're here! You know!"

Harry did his best to escape from Hermione's sincere but uncomfortable hug (it was already making Sirius and Remus grin mischievously) and looked at her puzzled. He was about to ask what was going on when she started a flood of explanations.

"You know I receive the Daily Prophet, don't you? Well, on Friday I received it and nearly fell backwards! I know you don't receive it with at your uncle's house so I tried calling you to see if you knew, but your uncle hang up on me saying you weren't there. I wrote to Ron, he said he didn't know anything about you, so I wrote to Dumbledore and he said that Ron would go with his family and he would apparate me here on Monday morning, and he assured me you knew but I was so nervous you'd miss it, and I was nervous about Sirius and about Professor Lupin because the full moon is in tomorrow and-" 

"HERMIONE!" Harry had been trying to get her attention for the past moments. She looked at Harry stunned by his screaming "I get the picture. We're all fine. We all know"

"Oh. Good" 

Remus looked at Sirius, apparently very amused "She talks even faster than you do, Padfoot"

Sirius scowled at his friend.

-*-*-

Harry, Remus, Sirius and Hermione arrived at the Ministry at 9 am sharp. They apparated (Sirius apparated Harry and Remus apparated Hermione) just outside the Ministry, where a special tent for apparitions had been set up. Harry and Remus had their wands out and were flanking Sirius' sides, while Hermione walked behind them, ready to take out her wand at any moment. As soon as they got out of the tent, they were taken aback by the number of people that were present. There were more reporters and curious wizards and witches than they had thought there would be. The Ministry was a big building, with its door directly on the street. Harry stretched his neck to see were the crowd ended, but both sides of the street were covered with people. As soon as they saw Sirius, the photographers started taking photographs like crazy, the reporters asked every kind of question, which Sirius wisely chose not to answer, and the rest of the people stretched their necks even more than Harry. Some eyed Sirius with fear, some with curiosity, and some concentrated only in Harry. 

They pushed their way to the Ministry, where Dumbledore and a yellow-robed wizard were waiting, avoiding the cameras as much as they could. One question, however, caught Harry's attention and he couldn't resist answering it.

"Why are you here Harry?"

Harry spun around and faced the reporter like if he had just been asked the most stupid question ever "It's my godfather's trial, where else would you want me to be?"

-*-*-

Once inside, Dumbledore led Hermione through a door to their right and the yellow-robed wizard led Harry, Sirius and Remus to a door to their left. They entered a semi-empty huge room, which reminded Harry strongly of the muggles' courtrooms. The only difference was that instead of two desks for the attorneys, there was one, which had been prepared for three people. Here was where Harry, Sirius and Remus were supposed to seat. Facing this desk, and on a small platform, was a large desk, with enough seats to sit 9 people: The place for Fudge and the rest of the Jury 

The yellow-robed wizard, who Sirius whispered he was an official Ministry guard, showed them these three seats and locked around Sirius' wrists what looked like two silver bracelets and a golden bracelet.

"I will take the AntiAps out every day the court goes into recess until the next day. The Tracker will remain until the verdict is given."

And he left to stand in the left corner of the room. He kept his eyes on Sirius at all times.

"AntiAps? Tracker?" Harry was confused.

" Two Anti-Apparition bracelets and a person tracker. With this they can locate me anywhere in the world. Why do you think they are letting me go home to Remus' place after every day? Without these they'd placed me in an Azkaban cell" Sirius' face was abnormally calm, but every now and then he shivered slightly. 

"Who do you think will call first?"

"They'll probably get rid of the ones who weren't very close to Sirius first" answered Remus "McGonagall and Flitwick will only be able to speak about him when he was back in school"

"Let's hope they won't remember the time I let out the Doxies in the staff room" Remus let out a laugh that threatened to be so loud he had to cover his mouth with his hand.

Little by little the room began to fill, and although they never turned around, they realized when the press was let in because the flashes of the cameras suddenly increased their volume. A moment later, someone tapped Harry on the shoulder.

"Ron!" he smiled to his best friend, and was about to ask what was he doing there when he remembered he had to testify. 

"Hey" Ron smiled to both Remus and Sirius, but he gave Sirius an especially big Weasley smile. "Everything's going to be ok, I know it"

All three smiled broadly back at him, Harry thanking he was in a good mood. Ron's mood cheered him up a bit. "Are you here alone?"

"Only my dad was let in here because I'm still underage." He saw Mr. Weasley sitting in the front row of the press chairs, chatting amiably with the witch next to him. He waved at him, and Harry waved back. "The rest of the Weasleys are up there with Hermione" Harry looked where Ron was pointing and he saw a balcony he hadn't noticed before. Mrs. Weasley smiled to him, and next to her, waving and smiling too, were Ginny, Fred and George, Percy, and even Bill and Charlie. "I told everyone, specially mum, how Sirius is completely innocent, and they didn't want to miss it. Mum is thrilled to have someone in your family actually care about you"

Sirius' face lightened up considerably at this.

"Ron, get here" called Mr. Weasley. Harry turned around and saw that the Jury was apparating in the High Table. The room grew to a dead silence as Fudge apparated in the middle seat of the table. The only sound heard that of some photographers clicking their cameras.

Fudge stood up and addressed the public and witnesses. "I hearby begin Wizard Trial No. 101,301,121 to judge the innocence or guilt of Sirius Ralph Black. We will call the witnesses and experts in the order that figure in our list the times necessary. The main accused, Sirius Ralph Black and key witness Peter Pablo Pettigrew will testify at the very end. Because he is under heavy custody Mr. Pettigrew will only attend trial the day he is required to testify." Fudge sat down and nodded to the wizard on his right.

The wizard traced his finger along a paper in front of him and spoke loud and clear "We call in to testify… Minerva Grace McGonagall"

From behind them, Professor McGonagall walked to the High Table.

"Minerva Grace McGonagall, rise your wand in your right hand" Harry watched as McGonagall did this, thought not very sure why. The wizard took his own wand and stretched to tap the top of Professor McGonagall's head with his own "Non Mienta. Minerva Grace McGonagall, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do" her face was as stern and her voice as determined as when she was in class.

The wizard watched McGonagall's wand with interest, and of course nothing happened with it. Oddly, he seemed pleased with this. "You are not thinking about lying, you may sit down"

Sirius whispered to him it was a very powerful spell that detected if you were planning on lying only to damage someone.

The witch that was nearest to McGonagall in the High Table, a stout witch in her mid-50's looked at McGonagall. She was a questioner.

"Ms. McGonagall, What do you remember from Sirius Black during his time at Hogwarts?"

To Harry's surprise, she smiled faintly "He and his friends practiced all kinds of jokes."

"Would you please mention the complete name of his friends?"

"James Thomas Potter, Remus John Lupin and Peter Pablo Pettigrew. Nearly everyone in the school liked him, even in the staff. He probably got more detentions in one year than the average student did in 7, but that added to the… charm he seemed to have. He was very brilliant, an excellent student with top marks, and as far as I could see, a good friend"

"What do you think happened on 1981? Do you think he could have become a death eater?"

"To be completely honest, I really don't know what happened on that fateful night, or the previous ones, for that matter. But he was the last person I would have thought to go on Vold- You-Know-Who's side"

"How do you stand concerning Sirius Black? Of course, we know he didn't kill Peter Pettigrew for the simple fact that he is alive, but do you think he could have betrayed James Potter?"

"In 13 years, I never could really accepted it, even when everyone said it was the truth. I am almost sure he would have died before betraying Potter."

"So, if it was up to you, you'd say he is innocent?"

McGonagall looked at Sirius for a long while, maybe weighting facts.

"Yes"

"Thank you Ms. McGonagall, please know that you could be called again"

After McGonagall, they jury called Professor Flitwick ("Filius Flitwick") who said nearly the same as McGonagall. Flitwick, thought, was sure Sirius wouldn't have betrayed James.

Hagrid was called next and, due to his size, the jury had to magically stretch the chair so that Hagrid could fit in. The questioner asked him what had happened on the night of October 31st to November 1st, 1981. Hagrid told how, following Dumbledore's orders, he had gone to the Potter's house to check if Harry indeed had survived, and got severely teary eyed when he described how he found him crying all alone in the ruins of his house. By the end of his declaration, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

"I walked directly to where Harry's cry was coming from an' when he saw me, he said me name, or tried to the li'l thing, and stretched his arms towards me. See, sir, I had been at the Potter's house a few times an' his parents invited me to his first birthday, an' I visited them when he was born, so Harry knew who I was. James was trying to teach him how to say 'Hagrid' by the time he died." He blew his nose with a giant handkerchief and wiped his tears "I took him and turned aroun' and that's where I saw Lily lying on the ground, her mouth had formed a slight 'o' like in surprise but her eyes were very calm. She looked fine, she didn't have a scratch or anythin', except maybe for ashes from the house. She looked like she could have woken up at any minute."

Harry had his face downwards, looking at the desk as if it was the most interesting thing around. He leaned closer to Sirius to shield his face from the press' lenses. Remus had put an arm around Sirius' shoulders. The cameras went wild again.

"I walked back, getting' outta the ruins, and I saw James lying near what had been the door. I walked to him, wanting to check on him, you know, to see if he really was dead. He looked the same as Lily, like he could've jumped at any time an' yell 'gotcha' like he had done so many times before. The only thing different was his glasses. He always took very good care of'em, and now they were dirty and broken, and about to fall from his face. I tried to place'em in the right position but they wouldn't stay and ended up falling down" 

Hagrid let out a loud sob and many of the people in the room took the chance to do so hoping they wouldn't be noticed. By this time Harry had tears in his face and no matter how many times he wiped them, the tears kept falling. He looked at Sirius, who looked extremely sad, but had his face very dry. He was looking at the desk, like Harry was. Still, Sirius got one of Harry's hands and squeezed it hard. Remus looked calm, and was also looking at the very interesting desk, but his eyes seemed to have drifted off somewhere else. They seemed lost.

"When did Mr. Black appear?"

"Sirius Black arrived some minutes after this. He saw his friend's bodies and cried at the sight. He looked so heartbroken… I comforted him and he stayed silent for several minutes. He went to Lily and tried to clean her a little bit, tried to take the ashes of her beautiful red hair and he took his wand and repaired James' glasses, and also took the ashes from his hair. It only made them look more alive. It hurt him more" Hagrid blew his nose again and two big tears made their way to his beard "Then he stood up and told me to give Harry to him, that he was going to take care of him. I told him I had orders from Dumbledore, we argued a bit and he finally accepted. He leant me his bike for me to take it to Dumbledore, so I took it and left him there" He made a pause and looked at Sirius and Harry, who did not notice he was looking at them. "I wish I had given Harry to him. It would've changed a lot of things."

"What do you think of Sirius Black now? Do you think he is innocent, he is guilty…?"

"I was in Azkaban for just 2 months meself sir, wrongly accused, about three years ago. I do not wish no one that fate, and certainly not to someone good who has been misjudged for so many people for so many years" 

The jury dismissed Hagrid and wrote on the papers and notebooks in front of them once more. Harry did not move but he could hear behind him loud sniffs and sobs and many people blowing their noses. After a good while that was very useful for everyone to dry their tears, the wizard to the right of Fudge called the next witness to testify…. Severus Snape

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~


	4. The Push and The Pull

Title: Judging innocence (4/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

------------------------------**__**

**__**

Chapter 4: The Push and the Pull 

_Not only the press is having a field day_, thought Harry as he saw Snape's face as he sat down and swore to tell the truth. Snape had always wanted to get Sirius in the biggest trouble possible, and Sirius' trial was the best opportunity to do so. Harry was sure he'd twist the events as much as possible to make Sirius look like a murderer madman.

"Tell me, Mr. Snape, from where do you know Sirius Black?" 

"We were in the same year at Hogwarts, although in different houses, if I may say so. I was in Slytherin and he was in Gryffindor. He was a nosey kid, trying to make my life at Hogwarts impossible. He even tried to kill me once, when I was 16"

Of course, the reaction to this dried every tear that Hagrid might have left lingering around and the cameras, which had been oddly quiet, shoot madly again. Everyone whispered and some even talked loudly. The jury had to wait several minutes and a live gavel banged madly until everyone calmed down and the questioner was allowed to go on. The press was divided between photographing Sirius and Remus' murdering glare or Snape's mocking straight face.

"He tried to kill you, you say?"

"He did, he played a joke on me involving Remus Lupin in a full moon that nearly got me killed. If it hadn't been for my reflexes, I'd be dead now"

Suddenly, Snape's wand, which was lying on his lap, started throwing sparks so furiously, Snape had to hold it not to fall. He seemed as bewildered about this as Harry was. Sirius, although, had his trademark mischievous smile in his lips.

"Please, tell the truth Mr. Snape" the questioner's glance landed directly on Snape's dark eyes.

Snape looked like he would have been willing to kill the jury before telling who really saved his life. "If it hadn't been for Potter, James Potter, I'd be dead now. He hold me off and made me back up just in time not to ran into _Mr._ Lupin as a wolf" The wand stopped throwing sparks.

"Please, tell me the events concerning the evening of June 6th 1994"

"Throughout that whole school year, I had been preparing _Mr._ Lupin the Wolfsbane potion…" he kept repeating the word 'Mr.' Like if it was an insult.

"That potion makes him keep his mind during transformations, right?"

"Correct. That day he had forgotten to take it, so I took a gobletful of it to his office, and I found it empty. I noticed a map of Hogwarts lying on his desk. It was very peculiar map, indeed. It showed the location of people around the castle. In this case, I saw Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger together with _Mr_. Black and _Mr._ Lupin running towards them. I went to their location in order to save the three children from the Azkaban escapee and someone who in just a few hours would turn into a werewolf. Once inside, even though I had saved them from _Mr._ Black's rage, Mr. Potter and Weasley and Ms. Granger attacked me for no reason at all. When I woke up, in the middle of the field near the Hogwarts castle, I noticed Mr. Weasley and his severely broken leg lying nearby and _Mr_. Black and Potter and Granger lying on the grass. _Mr_. Lupin was nowhere to be seen. I tied Black and conjured stretchers for the injured children, and brought them to the castle. They were taken to the hospital wing and Black was about to receive the Kiss when he escaped."

"This map you mentioned… do you have it with you?"

Snape shook his head and, far behind from where Ron and his dad where sitting, McGonagall stood up and presented a piece of parchment to the jury: The Marauder's Map. At the end of the year, Harry had lent it to the fake Moody and he never returned it. "This is it, it's been in possession of the staff since the end of the past term" The jury examined what, to them, was an old parchment "Unfortunately, I don't know how to work it"

Sirius stood up "If I may be allowed…"

"You know how this supposedly works?" asked the young wizard on the far left of Fudge who was examining the map.

"Yes, I helped create it" Sirius explained while approaching the High Table. He snatched the wizard's wand from the table (the yellow-robed guard launched himself forward to Sirius) and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good" The people in the room chuckled at it.

He returned the wand to his owner before the guard reached him and watched how the sight mesmerized the wizards and witches in the jury. A dot labeled 'Mrs. Norris' was patrolling near the Library and a dot labeled 'Argus Filch' was walking down the third floor corridor.

After each and every of the members of the jury had examined it, they gave it back to Prof. McGonagall. 

Sirius, who was returning to his seat, looked at McGonagall "Wait, you have to erase it, professor" He walked to her, the guard on his heels, and looked at McGonagall. She looked at Sirius and, without the hesitation Harry thought she would have, she lent her wand to him, smiling a very rare McGonagall smile. Sirius smiled back at her, erased the map ("Mischief managed!") and gave her back the wand and the map. 

The questioner looked at Snape, who looked disgusted by McGonagall's apparent trust in Sirius, and asked him a last question. "How do you stand concerning Sirius Black?"

"He proved to be capable of killing at age 16. I seriously doubt he wouldn't do it again."

-*-*-

The day went on like if someone was dragging it along. After noon, the jury announced an hour-long recess for lunch and Remus, Sirius, Harry and Hermione were invited by the whole Weasley family to have lunch at the small restaurant that was right in front of the Ministry. Luckily for everyone's moods, the twins provided a few good laughs, making them forget, at least momentarily, what was going on. Snape's testimony hadn't been able to make them forget Hagrid's emotional testimony.

Two yellow-robed guards stood in a corner of the restaurant, keeping a close eye on Sirius at all times 

While Sirius and Remus were talking with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins took advantage of their distraction and whispered Harry and Ron a question that, evidently, they had been dying to ask. "Harry… why did Black say he helped create the Marauder's map?"

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione who were both grinning, and he noticed Sirius and Remus had the same prankish grins plastered on their faces. 

Remus leaned and whispered to Sirius "They snatched the map from Filch's office and used it for five years until they passed it on to them"

Sirius' grin grew even wider, if that was possible. He muttered something along the lines of 'my boys' and then looked at his friend. They looked at each other and nodded. Their prankish grins made them look 10 years younger and suited them oddly.

Fred and George were totally lost as to what was going on, and they were even more lost when both Marauders extended their right hands at them, as though wanting to shake hands with them.

"I don't think we've introduced ourselves properly. I'm Padfoot, this is Moony, pleased to meet you"

The look on the twins' face was so priceless that everyone around the table, even those who had no idea as to what they were talking about, laughed at them. Even Percy couldn't resist it. 

George looked at Harry "Are they joking?" Harry shook his head and laughed at George's bewildered face. He asked the same question to Ron and Hermione and got the exam same answers.

"Hey, shake it, mate. It's bad manners to leave a Marauder with his hand hanging around" said Remus, and he shook both of the twins' hands as Sirius did the same. 

"Yeah, and it could leave you as the nasty target for pranks" said Sirius, managing as well as he could to hide his smile and serving some more potatoes on his plate. The twins were still gaping at them 

"Snape did that once. You took revenge and tried dyeing his robes a bright yellow and ended up dyeing his hair along with it" Everyone around the table snorted on their food and laughed wildly at the mental image. Even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley laughed at it, unsuccessfully trying to cover it up.

"If I remember correctly, Moony, _you_ did that because he called James the Flying Four-Eyed"

Remus thought for a while. "You're right. _You_ placed dung bombs in Snape's robes because he didn't shake our hands."

Fred and George were delighted by this pranks exchange and made a mental note of getting them apart later to gather up ideas from the professionals.

"That's why you knew how to work the map… not because Harry told you, but because you created it"

"Co-created. Actually the locking and unlocking spells were provided by Harry's father while I provided the idea of the embedded person-tracker"

Fred looked at Harry "Your father?"

"Prongs" Fred 'wow-ed' loudly.

George's voice lowered a bit "And I guess Pettigrew was Wormtail"

Harry nodded. The mood had been killed.

Percy looked up from his food and, seizing the opportunity, looked at Sirius "I'm not allowed to say where he is" Sirius looked at him "But I assure, there is no way he can escape. Even if he transforms into a rat. And Fudge would rather see you as a Minister of Magic than letting him out"

Sirius grinned at him.

"Percy?" he called

"Yes?"

"I owe you one"

"The trial's not over yet"

"It doesn't matter. Even if I go to Azkaban, even If I get Kissed… I owe you one for capturing Peter"

Percy nodded. Seeing everyone grimacing slightly (Mrs. Weasley closed her eyes to emphasize it) at the mention of Sirius being Kissed, Harry had the wonderful feeling that no one around that table would give up Sirius' opportunity of freedom without a battle.

-*-*-

Half an hour later, back in court, Dumbledore was called to testify.

"Tell me what happened on the night of November 1st 1981"

"I was at Hogwarts when I heard about the Potters' death. I had met with James two weeks before, on October the 19th, and we discussed performing the Fidelius charm on someone so they would be safe. I offered myself because we had received word that someone close to James and Lily worked for Voldemort, but James insisted on using Sirius, saying that he would rather die before betraying them. I argued, but he was so determined I finally agreed. It was the last time I saw James alive. On the 24th I received an owl from him saying simply that the charm had been performed. He never mentioned that they had performed it on Pettigrew and not on Sirius.

As soon as I received word that they had been killed, I told Hagrid to go to the ruins of their house to see what had happened, because I had heard Voldemort had been defeated, but I never heard anything about Harry's death. I casually told Hagrid that if the child indeed was alive, he would have to live with his muggle relatives. I was flabbergasted when he returned to Hogwarts with Harry in his arms. I had just received an owl from the Ministry so I couldn't take him to his muggle relatives right away. I told Hagrid to take care of him and to go to the muggle's house that night so I would deliver him to his uncle and aunt. I did so, left him at their door with a letter explaining them what had happened. The next time I saw Harry was at his own sorting ceremony, on September 1991"

"Back in 1981, what did you think of Sirius Black?"

"I thought he was guilty. When I heard he had killed Peter Pettigrew this was only confirmed. I was amazed that someone who had been so loyal to his friends as a teenager could have betrayed them, but… I thought he was guilty"

Sirius had his head down, looking at his hands.

"You gave evidence to the ministry of his being the Potter's secret keeper, right?"

"Yes. On the 20th, James owled me saying Sirius had agreed. I presented this parchment"

"What were your actions on the evening of June 6th, 1994?"

"Professor Snape called me to the Hospital wing saying he had captured Sirius Black and that he had injured Ron, Harry and Hermione. I first talked to Sirius, he was locked in Professor Flitwick's office, and then I talked to Harry and Hermione (Ron was unconscious). The three gave me the same story, and I believed what they said, I still do of course, but there was nothing I could do. I left the Hospital wing and when I arrived to see Sirius again he had escaped."

"From 1994 onwards, why didn't you turn Black in?"

"Because he is innocent and I had no convincing proof to present and prove his innocence"

"Well, I was going to ask you how do you stand concerning Sirius Black, but I guess that's a given now."

"Yes. He deserves to be let free"

After Ron was called to testify, and after his very long recount of the events of 1994 and his vote in favor of Sirius, the Jury called for a recess until the next day. Much to his surprise, Fudge didn't bang the customary gavel, but the gavel banged itself. It seemed to be alive. Harry, tired of hearing the same story about June 6th 1994 a million times, was thankful for the recess. 

Before leaving the Ministry building, and while the guard was taking Sirius his AntiAps, Ron and Hermione shoved Harry aside, away from them.

"How are you doing, Harry?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me" It was a lie. Hagrid's testimony had left him completely depressed and utterly tired.

"How was it that the muggles let you go?"

"They didn't. Remus came to their house as 'Professor Wolf' from my previous school and told them he wanted me to take me on a field trip"

"Ooh, first name basis, are we?" smiled Ron

"Shut up Ron." He playfully punched his friend on his arm "He told me the fourth word I ever learnt was his nickname, how was I supposed to deny calling him that?"

Hermione looked over Harry's shoulder, at Sirius and Remus, and lowered her voice "How is Sirius?"

"He's… good. He's calm. Last night was so awkwardly normal it frightened me. You saw him today at lunch, he was joking like if nothing was going on. And you saw him today morning, Hermione, he was grinning, sincerely grinning at your cascade of explanations and there was barely half an hour left till his trial began."

"You're right, he was" answered Hermione, thinking "But you know how McGonagall described him at class, he was always happy and joking. Maybe it's his way to cope with difficult situations. We really don't know him _that_ much"

"Judging by that statement, you do," said Remus' voice from behind them. Harry turned around and, surprised, saw only Sirius was talking to a very nervous Daily prophet reporter. "He copes best with hard things pretending they're not happening. He says it lets him concentrate his energy in the real problem. James and I tried to changed that for 11 years but we never succeeded"

Harry was barely listening "He's… giving an interview?"

"Not really. The reporter suggested the only reason he was protecting you was because he wanted to avenge Voldemort later at home with my help… tomorrow night"

All four of them thought that the next day's Daily Prophet article was going to be something worth reading.

_The Daily Prophet, July 18th, 1995_

**SIRIUS BLACK, THE DOGGED MISCHIEF MAKER******

**~º~  
HIS TRIAL BEGAN YESTERDAY MORNING**

_By Methilda Shotclear_

[Harry, Sirius and Remus saw in amazement how someone had captured the essence of Hagrid's testimony in a photo.

 The moving photo showed Remus putting his arms around his friend, Sirius squeezing Harry's hand 

and Harry himself leaning towards Sirius to shield his face from the cameras, which from the angle the photo 

had been taken it made him look like if he was resting against him]

Sirius Black's first trial ever began yesterday morning at the Ministry's main Court Room, and the testimonies given until the court's first recess couldn't have been further from the 13-year-long public's opinion about Black.

Black arrived protected by two very special bodyguards: his Hogwarts school friend Remus Lupin and none other than Harry Potter. Harry, as he was heard declaring, turned out to be Black's godson, appointed by Harry's father nearly 15 years ago. Both had their wands out and looked fiercely at anyone who tried to approach Black. 

His teachers described Black as a loyal friend and a brilliant student, but also as an incorrigible prankster and a true charmer. "Nearly everyone in the school liked him, even in the staff." Said Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts' Transfiguration teacher, in her testimony "He probably got more detentions in one year than the average student did in 7, but that added to the… charm he seemed to have." According to Ms. McGonagall, he could have never become a Death Eater.

Nevertheless, Severus Snape, an old schoolmate of Black, gave a much different testimony. Mr. Snape, Potions teacher at Hogwarts alleged a 16-year-old Black played a joke on him which nearly got him killed. "If it hadn't been for James Potter, I'd be dead now. Potter held me off and made me back up just in time not to ran into Mr. Lupin as a wolf" Remus Lupin, Black's best friend, is a werewolf, as it was unofficially spread two years ago after he quit his position at Hogwarts.

But Rubeus Hagrid, the gigantic keeper of the keys at Hogwarts who was the center of attention only months ago due to his giant mother, provided the most tear-jerking testimony of the day. Mr. Hagrid, was the first person to be at the Potter's home after they were killed, and he rescued Harry himself from the smoking ruins. In an extremely emotional testimony that left no dry face in the room, he described how he and Black had cried and suffered together the Potter's death, while making useless attempts to make them look better. "I walked to [James Potter], wanting to check on him, you know, to see if he really was dead. He looked the same as Lily [Potter, Harry's mother], like he could've jumped at any time an yell 'gotcha' like he had done so many times before." 

Luckily for Harry, Black seems truly committed to his godfather duties, even with the law in between "I promised James that I would take care of Harry and for twelve years I was unable to. Now I intend to fulfill my promise, no matter the jury's verdict," he declared after the court's recess.

_Our exclusive reporter has gotten an unofficial word that today's witnesses will include Remus Lupin, Black's 23-year-old-werewolf-friend and former classmate and Harry himself._

_Whether this jury will make justice or not, this trial has proven, and will surely continue to do so, to be extremely entertaining._

"My battle for freedom is entertaining?!"

"They couldn't skip the chance to humiliate Hagrid again!"

"Not to mention that the whole world now _truly_ knows I'm a werewolf"

"I swear, this newspaper is losing its credibility" Sirius tossed the paper aside and landed on a corner of Remus' kitchen, where the three were having breakfast.

"Still, Sirius" Remus looked at him "You seem to be quite the charmer"

Harry swallowed a laugh while Sirius tossed a muffin in Remus' way "Don't start"

"What?" Remus managed an innocent face that Harry and Sirius didn't buy. "You certainly left the Weasley twins speechless"

"Yeah, and you didn't help at all. You were delighted to go back to you MarauderMoony mode! You should do that more often, it makes you look younger" said Sirius, finally giving up his attempts to stop trying to hide his laugh and barked one loud one.

"I never denied it. Save the newspaper, I like the photo" said Remus, standing up to clear the table. He took Sirius' plate, Harry's and his own, but as he was about to reach the counter, an impressive dizziness came to him and he dropped the plates, reaching for the still far away counter to hold on to.

Quick as lighting, Sirius was up from the table and had his friend in his arms, preventing his falling straight to the floor. Harry had gotten to his feet too, and after repairing the broken plates to get them out of the way, he pulled out a chair for Sirius to seat Remus. 

"Moony?" He got nothing but a weak nod from his friend, who had fainted. "Harry, go to the bathroom and open the first-aid cupboard, you'll find a tall violet bottle with a green liquid that says 'DeadUp', bring it here" Harry did so, and was back in no time. Sirius opened the unconscious Remus' mouth and held his head back, dropping the liquid in his throat "Drink this, Moony, come on... that's it… more… good" he placed the bottle on the table and slapped his friend "Moony, weak up dammit"

Finally, Remus opened his eyes. The color had returned to his face, and now he could sit straight. "It's ok, I'm fine"

"Fine my arse. You're going to bed right now, and you're not coming to the trial."

"Of course I am!" he tried to stand up but Sirius still had his arm clasped tightly in his hand and did not let him stand up. "The Daily Prophet said that I might be called to testify today as well as Harry, I am not missing that"

"You need your rest for tonight, the nerves of my trial and the lack of sleep are doing you no good"

"Being here alone all day while your life is being dissected by Fudge's men will be even worst!"

Sirius looked intensely at Remus and his eyes reminded Harry of the penetrating gaze they had shared back in the Shrieking Shack two years ago "Fine. Fine, you'll go, but if you faint again, I'm taking you back home"

Undoubtedly encouraged by the Daily Prophet's new view on Sirius, even more people attended trial the next day. Outside, the street had now been filled with people flying on their brooms (and who were charmed down hastily before they could really see anything). Inside, the press chairs downstairs were filled, some even twice, and some people had been as audacious as to hang a camera around their necks and declare they were from the Daily Prophet. By the end of the day, the 'Daily Prophet' had sent over 100 reporters.

As soon as Sirius entered, the guard placed again the AntiAps on his wrists.

The balcony upstairs was as crowded as it could be and Harry was afraid it could fall down at any minute.

The whole Weasley family and Hermione came again and Ron, having already declared, was now up in the balcony with his dad, waving madly at him until Harry finally saw him. He looked at Ron and with surprise he saw some of his own school friends up on the balcony. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were two rows up from Ron and his family, and some seats to their right, were Colin and Dennis Creevey, waving madly at him.

In the place were Ron had been yesterday were several people who looked the age of Sirius and, in the far extreme, a short and very thin witch with a long box in her hands. She had white hair; her face was very white and very wrinkled. Her eyes seemed so lost... Her face rang a bell on Harry, and he had the funniest feeling that she was Pettigrew's mother.

That day, the jury started the day calling Sirius and Remus' old school friends, who talked about the same as McGonagall had, although form the point of view of someone who had been a student at the time. None of the denied at least a smile in Sirius' way remembering his jokes. For 13 years, they had all believe he had killed Pettigrew, but when the rat was caught alive and well, Sirius' apparent 'dark side' was now tumbling in their minds. 

Of course, some of those students had been Slytherins at the time, and helped Sirius as much as Snape had. That is, they made him look like a murderer whose sense of humor was way over the top.

The jury dismissed the last of the former Slytherin students and called their next witness.

"We call to testify… Matilde Pettigrew"

Harry's feeling had been correct. The little witch was Peter Pettigrew's mother.

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Going Back

Title: Judging innocence (5/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

------------------------------**__**

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Chapter 5: Going back 

**__**

**__**

 "We call to testify… Matilde Pettigrew"

The little witch stood up and went to the High Table. She walked very slowly, as if something was dragging her. Her face was washed in a sadness that was contagious. He never stopped to think about her, Harry realized. How the poor woman must have felt when she knew that her son had faked his death even to her.

Sirius and Remus looked at her and she gave them an almost imperceptible smile while she walked to the High table.

"My son's original wand" she said as she placed the long box in front of Fudge. Again, the cameras went utterly wild

"Thank you, Mrs. Pettigrew" He performed the wand-and-head spell on her and the Questioner started again.

"I will try to be as short as possible, Mrs. Pettigrew. Do you remember Mr. Black, back when your son and him were friends at Hogwarts?"

"I do. The very few times Peter brought him over, he always made me laugh and whenever he could, or had time, helped me with whatever he could. He always defended Peter, even when I scolded him because he had broken something or forgotten something."

"How did your son behave during the last years, before the Potter's death and his supposed death?"

Pettigrew's mum let out a sob, closed her eyes briefly and opened them again "Until about two years or so before James' death he was… normal. Since about the time James's son was born, he… whenever I asked him about his friends he would say that he didn't know. He always had an excuse not to talk about them. I thought they'd had a fight, and I asked him, but he denied it completely. When Harry was born, I wanted to meet the little boy, and I asked Peter if he could get me to their house or tell me where the house was, but he never wanted me to go. Once he even tried to forbid my meeting the boy or even talking to his friends. I didn't understand. When it I was told that Sirius had killed my son, I had a hard time believing it. But then I remembered Peter's attitude towards them and I thought it made sense. When I heard he was alive… that Sirius had been innocent all long… the doctors tried to prevent me to come and testify but I didn't want to deny him what little help I could give him"

"Do you think that Mr. Black could have become a Death Eater, or betray James Potter for that matter?"

"They had a beautiful group of friends." She said, with her eyes fixed on both Remus and Sirius, who were staring back at her. "All of them were strong, and all of them were brave, all of them loyal to each other." She lowered her eyes, avoiding their eyes "The only one of them who was vulnerable enough to change so drastically was my son."

The court made an hour-long recess for lunch, which everyone thankfully appreciated. Just as Sirius, Harry and Remus were about to join the Weasleys for lunch, a female voice called them

"Sirius! Remus!"

Remus and Sirius spun around like if someone had hit them with a whip. Matilde Pettigrew was making her way along the crowd, and Sirius walked forward to help her after a reporter nearly knocked her down.

"Hello, Matilde"

"Hello boys…" she looked at Harry. "My, you certainly do look just like your father. Those must be your famous mother's eyes. I'm sorry to say I never met her." She looked back at Sirius, and the sadness she had shown in court came back. "I hated you for thirteen years, for being a gentleman in my house and then taking away my son." She gently caressed Sirius' cheek with one of her wrinkled hands "I'm sorry. I didn't know I should have hated my own son"

"You don't have to be sorry. Your son made a mistake" she placed a hand on her own.

"You are being too good, Sirius. You know as well as I do that none of us, not even I, believe one word of that"

Sirius simply smiled at her, avoiding the subject "I'm glad you came. Thank you for wanting to testify for me"

"I hope I helped"

"You did" Harry had the funny feeling that Sirius was not talking about the trial.

She then turned and looked at Remus "Remus, if you ever need some, I am a very good potion-brewer. If you ever need someone to prepare the Wolfsbane for you, just owl me. It wouldn't hurt to make something useful of my time" she patted both their cheeks in a very motherly way and left them.

"I always thought of her as another mother to me, the way she behaved with us" said Sirius, watching as she went into the Dissaparating tent "She was always a very admirable woman…".

"Yes. Admirably noble, and strong. And with a marvelous sense of humor"

"It's a pity Peter didn't get any of that."

An hour later, the wizard traced his finger along the paper in front of him and spoke loud and clear "We call in to testify… Harry James Potter"

Harry felt his stomach shrink to the size of a walnut and, after squeezing Sirius' hand but not trusting himself to make eye contact, he stood up and went to sit in the chair besides the High Table.

The wizard did the same wand-and-head spell with Harry and, after seeing Harry did not intend to lie, the witch started questioning him

"Tell me about your relation with Sirius Black" 

"He is my godfather, he was appointed my guardian by my parents… and he has helped me so much since I met him that it'd be fair to say he is also my friend" Harry saw Sirius smile at him.

"We understand the muggles you live with didn't know this. Who told you he's your godfather?"

"No one, actually. I overheard Professors McGonagall and Flitwick talk about him one day"

"Do they know about this?"

"No, they don't know I overheard"

"Why didn't you tell them? Or ask for more information about Mr. Black?"

Fearing the spell would make effect if he lied just to save his neck and not to save someone else, he decided to tell the whole truth "Because I overheard them when they were in The Three Broomsticks, in Hogsmeade, when I was supposed to be at Hogwarts, and I would get detention if they saw me"

The witch sniggered at him "I'm afraid you will after today" Both Remus and Sirius glared at her: they were too familiar with detentions to want one more in Harry's record.

"Tell me what happened on June 6th, 1994"

The question Harry had feared "Hermione, Ron and-"

"Complete names, please"

"Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley" he saw Ron grimacing at the mention of his full name "and I went to visit Hagr- Rubeus Hagrid at his hut, because his hippogriff was going to be executed. While we were there, Hermione found Ron's 12-year-old rat, Scabbers, who we thought had been eaten by her cat days before"

"You thought?"

"We found blood and hairs from Hermione's cat in Ron's bed, and we thought Crookshanks –that is, her cat- had eaten Scabbers."

The witch lifted an eyebrow "Faking his death again. How amusing. Continue, please"

"Ron grabbed Scabbers, who was struggling a lot to get lose of his grasp, and we went back to the castle. In the middle of the path, near the castle's doors Scabbers got lose and as Ron grabbed him, Sirius in his Animagi form appeared from behind and grabbed Scabbers, taking Ron with him"

"You said 'his Animagi form'?" the witch seemed bewildered about it

"Yes, Sirius..." he looked at Sirius apologetically for revealing a more than 20 year old secret "Sirius is an animagus, a dog. A really big dog. More like a grim"

The room burst into loud whispers and the cameras once again flashed at Sirius and Harry like crazy. The witch silenced the room with the help of the live gavel and faced the rest of the jury "Questioner Andrae requests permission to ask Sirius Ralph Black to prove his being an animagus"

No sooner had the jury nodded that Sirius changed into a dog and hopped onto the table, allowing everyone to see him. 

He wagged his tail and with every swing he hit Remus' head with his tail. ("Oy! Stop it Sirius!") Sirius, although, seemed elated by everyone's reactions, and to spice up the situation a little more (and assure the Daily Prophet would get something funny enough to twist it as much as possible), he turned around and licked Remus' face repeatedly ("Gerroff!" he said in between fits of giggles)

This seemed to have astounded the jury greatly and Harry had the feeling the questioner was dying to question Sirius. After some speechless moments, Fudge told Sirius to transform back, which he did obediently and ended up sitting on the table, swinging his legs happily. Remus discreetly rubbed his temple with his fingers while the room burst into laughter. Again, the cameras flashed like crazy. The press was having a field day. Sirius jumped back and sat down again. He seemed to be in his element.

With much effort when taking her eyes of Sirius, the questioner told Harry to go on. Trying to swallow his laughter at Sirius' little show as better as he could, he told how they ended up in the Shrieking Shack, how he saw Ron's broken leg, how he and Hermione had thought it had all been a trap set up by Sirius. He told how Lupin appeared moments later asking about someone else in the room and, much to Harry's dismay at the moment, hugged Sirius tightly. He told how Lupin and Sirius had exposed Pettigrew, forcing 'Scabbers' to transform into his human form. 

Harry finally finished the story and the witch, Andrae, questioned him again. "Did you help Sirius Black to escape?"

"No. He told me he escaped in his animagus form right before the dementors were brought in" His wand stood as quiet as before. Fortunately, the spell truly seemed to work only if you were lying to either save your neck or to incriminate an innocent.

"How do you stand concerning Sirius Black?"

"He is an innocent man who made a mistake and was framed by someone he thought was a friend. He did not deserve the 12 years in Azkaban and deserves to be let free"

Andrae dismissed Harry saying that he could be called later, but before he could stand up, Fudge asked him one last question that startled Harry greatly.

"Harry, suppose that, by some weird turn of destiny, today you find out that Sirius Black was indeed your parents' secret keeper, and therefore they died because of him. Would you punish him, after the year you've kept contact with him, after having him so close as to be a friend of yours?"

Harry thought hard for a very long moment "I don't know. It'd be something very hard for me." He looked at Sirius, who was frowning at him "I… I guess I... I don't know. He is a good man, he would've never betrayed my father."

Fudge let him sit again by Sirius, leaving Harry feeling that _that_ honest answer had not helped Sirius at all.

Sirius leaned and whispered to his ear "We'll talk about that answer when we get back home"

And finally, as the last testimony of the day, it came Remus' turn. He was looking paler than usual, and his pace was slower than usual. Harry didn't know if this was because of the trial or the full moon. Sirius, however, was sure it was because of the full moon.

The first question was what had happened, from his point of view on June 6th 1994. Being the professor he was, Remus explained it so clearly the questioner didn't ask him again. The memories and the obvious link to the night Harry's parents had died seemed to be taking its toll on Remus, who looked extremely ill. Sirius was now in the edge of his chair, his eyes never leaving his friend

"You are friends with Mr. Black, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am"

"Have you always been friends?"

"No…" he wiped the sweat form his brow, although the room was quite cool. "We were friends from the very first day I met him at Hogwarts until the day James and Lily died and from the night of June 6th '94 onwards."

"Why do you say you were friends till "the day James and Lily died?"

"Well, because I thought he had helped in killing James and Lily, of course. His attitude in the previous days seemed to make sense with his supposed support to the dark side. I felt Sirius colder with me. Drifting apart. He was -is- my best friend and he was the kind of friend who was always teasing you, always happy, always with a joke to cheer you up a bit. The kind of friend that James was, always there for you if you needed him, and that week had been a full moon. They day before James and Lily died had been actually. He and James had kept track of the moon's phase ever since the day they knew I was a werewolf, if you asked them they could have told you the days that there were going to be a full moon all throughout the year. Sirius still can, as a matter of fact." He smiled his way "And that week they didn't even mention it. I understood about James, because he had a house, and a little son, but Sirius never showed up to be with me in his Animagus form as he had the previous 11 years. It was the first time since he became an Animagi that he wasn't there with me and I was weak from the transformation, so I just… let him be. I stayed at home and rested. When I knew about James and Lily's deaths the next day I thought, as everyone else had, that Sirius had betrayed them. And of course I didn't consider him a friend anymore." By this time Remus was deadly white and had started shivering slightly but he acted as if he didn't notice it.

"Well, that pretty much answers my question of what you did on 1981." The questioner looked at Remus, who had his eyes closed and had grasped tightly the side of his chair. Sirius was ready to jump at any moment. "Mr. Lupin are you alright?"

Everything happened so quickly, it was something weird to watch. Just as Remus answered he was fine, he fainted, and at the same time, Sirius explained he was weak from his transformation, asking for a recess until the next day and ran to grab Remus, preventing his slipping from the chair and straight to the floor.

Upstairs, Mr. Weasley with Ron and Hermione on his heels climbed down the stairs to get to the main courtroom, while Mrs. Weasley uselessly tried to prevent her children from going to check on their former professor.

Fudge granted the recess until the next day at 10 am and ordered the guards to 'kick the damn press out of the room'. The questioner called the Ministry's nurse and she appeared a second later, just after Sirius had settled the passed-out Remus back on the chair. She gave Remus a bottle of 'DeadUp' and revived him while the guards took the chance to take the AntiAps from Sirius' wrists.

When he finally woke up, he seemed lost as to how was it that there were so many people around him in court. Sirius told him he had asked for a recess until the next day and Remus looked up to see Mr. Weasley, Ron and Hermione gasping for breath as they arrived. "I'm fine, thank you" His voice was weird, almost angry. 

The rest of the Weasley clan arrived, all of them worried about Remus. 

Sirius kneeled down and looked at him intently. The color had returned to his face but he still looked bad. "I'm fine" repeated Remus. 

"You're not, Remus" started again Sirius. Both looked at each other.

"Listen" Mr. Weasley obviously sensed the tension that was being born between the two men and looked at his wife "Molly can you take the kids and Hermione home?" she nodded "I think it's better if I apparate Harry and Sirius apparates Remus at his home"

A faint 'no' came from Remus' way but Sirius ignored it completely. "Yes, thank you Arthur"

They apparated a kilometer from Remus' house and, as soon as Mr. Weasley saw that everyone was safe, he left the Lupin house, saying he had to take Hermione to her own house.

Harry looked at Sirius and Remus. The tension between them was almost palpable. He excused himself ('I have the sudden desire to take a very long and very noisy bath') and ran upstairs. He was sure Remus was about to explode.

And once he saw that Harry was out of sight and earshot, he did.

"You interrupted my testimony!"

"You couldn't have gone on with it!"

"You made me look like a child that needed protection!"

"You fainted in the middle of the damn court Remus!"

"I. Can. Take. Very. Good. Care. Of. Myself. Thank. You. Very. Much." He said, trailing each word. It was their first fight in more than 15 years.

"I'm the one who knows that best! Do you really think I think of you as helpless or weak? I know better!"

"Then why did you make a fool of myself!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I worry about the only friend I have left!!" Sirius shouted. Realizing all that the statement implied and all the memories it brought back, he immediately covered his face with one of his hands.

"Sirius…" he walked to his friend, his voice had changed and was immensely calm and soothing.

"I didn't mean to say that. Or so loud." He seemed to let go something inside him and sighed. "The stress of the trial and having all those people dissect my life as you put it, and seeing Matilde again… and knowing Peter will probably declare tomorrow…" he looked at him. The awful tension that had been there a minute before had finally broken, and both of them now felt tired from the day.

"Sirius… it is no use avoiding saying what is true. Except for the trial, we've never mentioned James' name…" seeing Sirius avoided his gaze and didn't answer he tried to approach his friend through another way "Do you think people line up and take turns to be my friend? You are also the only friend I've got left." The conversation was getting to him "Bloody hell, Sirius, if it wasn't for you and Harry I'd have no one!"

Sirius looked at his friend's eyes "It hurts so much to even think about James. Or Lily."

"I know. But Sirius, in the end, it'll hurt even more not to talk about them. In the end you will feel awful because you never talked about them. We have to come to terms with their deaths. At least for Harry's sake. We can't go moping around the house every time we talk to him about his parents"

"It'd be quite a show"

"Sirius…"

"I know, I know. I'll try" he said earnestly.

Remus approached him "Sirius, I'm really sorry for the way I yelled. I… I have spent 12 years without a friend, without a marauder in my transformations. It's a very long time. I guess I forgot how it was to have someone that actually cared about me and not what I could do to them…"

Sirius hugged him tightly.

"Everything's going to be fine, Sirius. You deserve it."

He parted from his friend and Sirius looked at him. He had his trademark Marauder smile on his face "Do you want Padfoot with you tonight?"

Remus smiled back at him "That's a given. I have to warn you, though, it'll be boring. I'm not a savage beast anymore."

"Fantastic. You won't break my neck when wrestling"

"I said I'm not a beast anymore. I never said anything about my strength"

Upstairs, Harry let out a silent sigh and closed the door to his temporary room. He was glad the fight had developed into such an outpour of hidden feelings and in nothing mayor. 

That night, after checking Harry was sleeping safe in his bed, Padfoot rode with Moony again.

After 13 years, it was the first time Moony liked the full moon.

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Getting to know you

Title: Judging innocence (6/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

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Chapter 6: Getting to know you 

**July 19th, 9am**

Harry opened the window to let the Daily Prophet owl in, paid her 5 Knuts, and unrolled the paper to read today's article. 

First, he chuckled at the photograph.

When he finished the article, Harry chuckled at the article itself.

And then, as he read the last line, he called loudly for Sirius

"SIRIUS!" he yelled. 

Sirius was already up and halfway down the stairs. "Shh! You'll wake up Remus!"

"I'm up!" yelled a groggy voice from the bathroom.

"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked, looking at the Daily Prophet in Harry's hand and Harry's contorted face (he was suppressing his laughter)

"Remus! There's an article you might want to read!"

Sirius looked at him and tried to snatch the newspaper from his hands "Since when do you call him Remus?"

"Since he practically forced me by telling me Moony was the third word I learnt"

"Fourth, you learnt Padfoot first" Sirius made another failed attempt at grabbing the newspaper.

"Not true" said Remus as he approached Harry and Sirius "He only managed to say '_Pafoo_'" He looked immensely better than the previous day.  

Harry finally handed them the Daily Prophet ('Want to read about the little show?') and watched amused the different reactions.

_The Daily Prophet, July 19th, 1995_

**L****AUGHTER, TEARS AND WOLVES IN ****B****LACK'S TRIAL******

**~º~  
****T****HE TESTIMONIES ARE MAKING US FEEL WE NEVER KNEW ****B****LACK AT ALL**

_By Methilda Shotclear_

[Much to Remus' dismay, and to Sirius' delight, today's picture featured Padfoot licking Remus' face many times]

_No matter how many years we spent brooding over Black's homicidal personality, Peter Pettigrew being alive changed the whole picture we had of Black's nature. The trial that began on the 17th is letting us know we've barely started to know the true man. _

_Yesterday's witnesses included Pettigrew's aged mother, Harry Potter and Black's best friend, Remus Lupin._

_Matilde Pettigrew, Peter Pettigrew's long suffered mother, painfully recalled the times the gorgeous Black and her son were friends. She described Black as a funny and helpful boy, as well as protective of Pettigrew himself. In spite of her doctors advising her not to attend trial, her firm determination of helping an innocent man to freedom got her to court, where she declared that his son's group of friends was strong, loyal and brave, and the only one who was vulnerable enough to change so much as to go over to the dark side, was her own son._

_The Boy Who Lived came up next, and with much help from his very own godfather, his proved to be the most entertaining testimony to date. While describing the events from June 6th 1994 -the day Black escaped from Hogwarts- Harry revealed that Black is an illegal animagus. We finally got a glimpse of Black's much spoken about joking nature as Black obediently transformed into a gigantic dog, hopping onto the table and looking at the jury almost teasingly. Everyone broke into laughter as the illegal animagus turned around and seemed to enjoy licking his friends' face_. [Remus covered his face with his hand and passed the newspaper to Sirius, so he'd finish reading it out loud]_ When Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge instructed him to change back, the attractive defendant did as told on the spot, and ended up sitting over the desk, waving his legs happily at the jury.  _

_Harry also expressed his feelings towards his godfather. "He has been there for me so much since I met him that it wouldn't be fair to hide that I consider him my friend." _["They've changed your testimony, Harry!"]_ If everything goes as Black and many in the wizarding community wants to, Harry might have the opportunity of leaving the muggles he's been living with since he was a year old and finally get a decent home with a fully grown –and very well built- wizard._

_And finally, Black's werewolf friend, Remus Lupin provided the shock of the day. Lupin testified about Black's friendly nature and loyalty towards his friends, and after declaring how Black had kept track of the full moon ever since he knew about his friend's licanthropy back when they were 12 years old, even those who didn't know Black at all were convinced of Black's good nature. This was proven even further when Lupin, who was still giving testimony, fainted and Black ran to him to prevent his hitting to the floor. Black explained it was due to the weakness the 'pull' of yesterday's full moon subjected him to, and when the press was ushered out of the courtroom, Lupin still hadn't come around. When Black and Lupin finally came out, Black still holding Lupin's arm, Arthur Weasley, Ministry employee and the father of Harry's best friend, accompanied them._

_We have been exclusively revealed that the ministry has, after days of futile attempts, contacted a long lost friend of Black that will testify today. Even though we are unable to print his name, we know for sure it is someone not even Black himself knows. Also, we have been told that if everything goes well, today might be the last day the testimonies are taken, and without any mayor obstacles, we will know the verdict on the afternoon of today or tomorrow morning._

As a muggle said in 1963, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Here's hoping the Minister and his men will, for once, do justice.

_Mr. Black, if you are reading this, your charm has reached people past the courtroom. Methilda Shotclear's heart is with you!_

Remus and Harry burst into laughter.

"Oh. My. God." Sirius simply kept staring at the final line

"The attractive defendant… the gorgeous Black" teased Remus

"Don't forget about very well built" appointed Harry and they burst into laughter again

"Oh. My. God."

"Seems you've made yourself a fan in the Daily Prophet's offices" Harry's sides were hurting now.

"Oh. My. God."

"Wasn't Shotclear one of the Ravenclaw first years when we were in our last? She'd be… about 30 or so by now" Remus smiled mischievously at him

"No… that was her daughter, _Melinda_ Shotclear… Methilda is her mother…"

"So she's about… "

Harry did the summing up "About 50 years old!"

They burst into laughter again.

As they had breakfast, the conversation turned inevitably to the last lines of the article.

"Do you think…" Harry asked cautiously "If there's any truth to what they said about the verdict?"

"I think…" Remus stopped eating and stared at his toast "I think they have an inside contact in the ministry. They got yesterday's witnesses right, and all the background in his case didn't have one mistake."

"What I don't know…" said Sirius "Is who they could have contacted. 'Long lost friend' they said, but I can't think of anyone"

"Everyone who fairly knew us at Hogwarts has been in the trial. Maybe an old muggle friend, from your neighbourhood?"

"Nah, I stopped seeing them when I was 11… I don't know who could it be…"

-*-*-

"Mr. Lupin, are you feeling all right today?"

"Yes, I am." He could've mention that he always felt better after the moon had passed, but with so many people in the room, he chose not to.

"Very well, then. I have only a few questions left." He consulted a folder in front of her and looked at Remus back again "Did you help Sirius Black escape in the night of June 6th 1994?"

Remus scowled at him "How could I? It was a full moon night"

"From the day Black escaped form Hogwarts, did you keep contact with him?"

"Yes, we owled each other. He only came to stay at my house at the beginning of the summer"

"Were you involved in the joke Mr. Black played on Severus Snape?"

"Indirectly only. I _was_ the main… element… in it, but I never knew what really happened until the next morning"

"It is obligatory for me to ask you this question, as obvious as the answer might be. How do you stand concerning Sirius Black?"

Remus chuckled and smiled at Sirius. "I'll say it with only three words: He Is Innocent."

 "Thank you Mr. Lupin"

The jury scribbled in their folders for a while and then Fudge looked at a red robed wizard to his left. "Let him in"

For a moment, Harry had the feeling Pettigrew was going to enter, but a very tall and dark haired man entered and sat in the testifying chair. 

Much to his and Remus' surprise, Sirius knew him and before Fudge could even address him, Sirius was standing up, happily calling his name "NORMAN!" 

Norman broke into the widest of smiles and went to meet Sirius "Sirius!" They hugged tightly but Fudge cut them short.

"Mr. Black, you'll have all the rest of the day to catch up with Mr. Lathren, SIT BACK" the live gavel banged loudly

Sirius did, though not before stealing another wide smile from Lathren.

Fudge performed on Lathren the wand-and-head spell "Mr. Lathren, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do" he sat back and the questioner began

"Mr. Lathren, most people do not know who you are, would you please talk briefly about you and how do you know Mr. Black?"

"Of course. Well, I first met Sirius when he and his parents moved to our neighborhood, about the time he was… 12. I'm two years older than he is. We normally wouldn't have even looked at each other, but I was attracted by him..." He watched truly amused the scene as the reporters scribbled madly in their notepads. "… by the fact that he was attending Hogwarts and I wasn't allowed to." He finished with the widest of smiles after a very misleading pause. The reporters crossed out what they had written "I am half blood, and my dad, who was a wizard, died when I was very small. My mum tried to raise me as best as she could in the wizarding ways, but when I received my Hogwarts letter, she forbid me to go. During the summer vacations, or at least the times he was there, Sirius taught me what he had learnt throughout the year. When he graduated and moved out from his house, we lost contact and eventually stopped seeing each other. When I came of age, I studied an accelerated course and eventually became a fully trained wizard. And for the Daily Prophet's interest, I'm married to a witch and have a pair of twin girls" The room broke into laughter.

"What do you do now?"

"I'm a Magizoology expert on Kelpies. It's the reason why I was out of the country, I was working."

"Mr. Lathren, would you please declare what you already told us privately? The reason you flew to the country?"

Lathren's face seemed to become graver, and he looked at Sirius for a long while "I was a Death Eater" Sirius' face fell to the floor. Lathren rolled up the sleeve of his left arm and showed everyone the dark mark, deeply tattooed in his arm. Lathren noticed Sirius' face and looked directly at him. "I never killed anyone, Sirius, I promise. That's why I am free, you can ask the ministry for proof of it"

"Mr. Lathren, when were you a Death Eater?"

"During the last years of Voldemort's power, from '78 to '81. Even thought the only one who knew who all Death Eaters were was Voldemort himself, I… I was close to him, and I never saw Sirius in there. If he indeed had been a Death Eater, I would have seen him, or Voldemort would have mentioned him to me. He loved sending people that knew each other on missions together. The one I did see, and several times, was Peter Pettigrew. I didn't knew he was Sirius' friend" he seemed to search for words "The story is, I knew Sirius was very close friends with other three people at Hogwarts, but the only I ever met, twice actually, was James Potter. They talked about the other two guys" he looked at Remus "specially about you, but if they ever mentioned Pettigrew's name I didn't register it. When I knew Voldemort had killed James, his wife, and nearly killed his son, and in the meantime got himself nearly killed, I completely back out of it. I went into hiding and as soon as I could, I flew out of the country. I returned a couple of years later and…" he waved his hands impatiently "had my trial, got myself let free, studied kelpies, married, had children… the old drill"

"So, Sirius Black was not a Death Eater?"

Lathren looked at Sirius, who finally looked back at him "No, he wasn't"

"Thank you Mr. Lathren, if you would please remain in the room…"

"Of course" he got up from the chair and found a seat near the end of the room, smiling at Sirius in the way.

"Mr. Black" Fudge called to Sirius "It's your turn"

After yet another wand-and-head spell with Harry's borrowed wand, the Questioner finally found her desires come true: It was her turn to question Sirius Black

"We'll go chronologically, Mr. Black. When did you become an Animagi?"

"The actual transformation, when we were in 5th year, but we had been researching and studying and trying since we were 12, right after we discovered about Remus" Remus lifted an eyebrow and looked at him significantly. Sirius got the absolute meaning of it and rolled his eyes "Fine, fine _I_ discovered what you were, when James was doing his homework on werewolves and it suddenly hit me." Remus nodded approvingly "The three of us had a talk, we confronted Remus, and by the end of the day we had already had the idea of being animagus. I took us three years to do it."

Fudge leaned and whispered something in the questioner's ear "Mr. Black, would you accept becoming an official animagus, that is to say, it'll go into records, and paying the obligatory fine of 50 Galleons?"

"Sure. Saying I'm and illegal anything doesn't sound too good" 

"Very well, then. Did Mr. Lupin coerce you into becoming and animagus?"

"No! No, he didn't. In fact, he was against it, but… well, we wanted to be with him during his transformations and we were stubborn 15-tear olds. We didn't listened to him"

"Mr. Potter was an animagus too, then?"

"Yes, he transformed into a stag"

"Tell me about your 'joke' on Severus Snape"

He looked at Remus "I think this is new to you too, Remus. Earlier that day, Snape had been mocking us like he usually did, but that day he found me on an especially cross mood. I seemed to be getting mad at anything, I don't know why. We fought, as usual, and he made the mistake of threatening me with throwing a hex at Remus and calling him…" He made a pause, looking at the people staring at him. "… something way too nasty to say out loud in this court with minors present" he leaned to the questioner and whispered something in her ear. 

The questioner's eyebrows shot upwards

"Well, I'd have gotten mad at him too, If I may say so" Sirius smiled triumphantly "Go on"

"That night, I made sure he'd get Madam Pomfrey, she's the school nurse, and Remus when she was taking Remus where he went to during his transformations. All I did was point out how to open the passageway that led there. But James was nearby, he caught me, screamed a few nasty things at me, and then ran to get Snape out of Remus' sight"

"Were you trying to kill him?"

"No! No, I wasn't. I was mad at him, I was just trying to scare him out of his wits" 

The room broke into laughter.

"Tell me what happened on the night from October 31st to November 1st 1981"

The tale of what happened the night Harry's parents died was told once again, this time form Sirius' point of view. He certainly was in no mood to get teary eyed, or get the press teary eyed for that matter, so he kept it as short and clear as possible. 

"How did you manage to escape from Azkaban?"

"In my animagus form. I was very, very thin so I could slip through the bars and then I swam to the mainland, to go after Peter and protect Harry"

"How did you find out about Pettigrew being Ron Weasley's pet?"

"When Mr. Fudge came to inspect Azkaban, I asked him for his newspaper, and I saw a photo of the Weasley family, after they... had won some prize of some kind"

The questioner looked at Fudge, who nodded "It's true"

"Tell me what Happened on June 6th, 1994"

"I was keeping an eye outside, when I heard some voices. I saw Ron running to get Peter… Scabbers… whatever, Ron was running to hold the rat. I tried to grab him, but to get Peter all I could do was drag Ron along with me, and I did. Once inside, Harry and Hermione came to Ron's rescue, and after a while, Remus appeared." He went on telling how Remus exposed Peter, Snape appeared, and Sirius was delighted to tell Snape's true actions. "He was quite harsh for someone who was trying to save them, actually" He looked terribly amused. "He tied Remus for no apparent reason, yelled at Harry and his friends, threatened them with expulsion, and then he threatened Remus and me with getting the dementors so they would kiss us… _both_" a collective gasp was born in the room. "He grabbed the ropes that were tying Remus and dragged him…" he closed his eyes briefly, bitter at the memory "After he threatened Remus with getting the dementors to kiss him, Harry crossed the room and blocked Snape's path out of the room. He was threatening me with his wand so I couldn't do a thing. He insulted James' memory, he insulted Harry, he even said that it'd have served him well If I had killed Harry" Lucky for him, Snape wasn't at court that day "After he yelled all this, Harry, Ron and Hermione used the disarming spell on him… at the same time. It was sheer luck, they didn't know they were doing it at the same time…" He seemed so amused it was nearly funny "That threw him to the wall and knocked him out, although it wasn't what they had intended. Hermione was quite worried about what they had just done, actually."

"Maybe I should have a little chat with Snape later" muttered Fudge under his breath, but Sirius was close enough to hear him.

"Why did you break Ron Weasley's leg?"

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to"

"As we have heard from other witnesses, you were then taken to the castle by Severus Snape, where I understand you were locked in Prof. Flitwick's office, right?" Sirius nodded "How did you escape from Hogwarts?"

"I forced the door the muggle way, transformed into a dog, and ran out of Hogwarts grounds as soon as possible"

The jury was quite pleased with Sirius' testimony. 

After Sirius was dismissed, Fudge performed a special locking spell on the doors and windows with his wand and nodded at several yellow-robed wizards, who placed themselves in front of the doors. He looked at the other 8 wizards and witches besides him, who grabbed their wands, and then nodded at four red-robed wizards who were standing in front of two giant oak doors that were on the left. Two of them got their wands out and the other two opened the doors, as three people crossed the doorframe. Two of them were other red-robed wizards, and when the public was able to see who the third person was, the cameras went wild.

Peter Pettigrew was going to testify

Harry's, Sirius' and Remus' bitter and scowling faces followed Pettigrew as he sat down to testify. The red-robed wizards surrounded him. Amazingly, the wand-and-head spell showed he wasn't intending on lying.

"Peter Pettigrew, you have been accused of being a Death Eater, do you deny it?"

Pettigrew did not lift his eyes from his lap. He was trembling violently. "N-No"

"Do you deny setting up the dark mark above Arthur Weasley's home?"

"No"

"Why did you set up the dark mark?" Pettigrew stayed silent, his eyes still fixed on his lap. "Mr. Pettigrew, did you hear me?"

"I-I did" More silence

"Mr. Pettigrew, I have to tell you that any questions you won't answer willingly we will ask you under the influence of Veritaserum, and all it will figure in your record will be that you did not collaborate. And I have to tell you, it is not something good to have on your record"

In an impressive demonstration of something that _could_ have been called braveness, he raised his head and looked at the Questioner and the rest of the Jury "I will not betray my master"

As the people in the room gasped in horror, Remus grimaced and Harry scowled but Sirius could not stop his impulsive nature "But you certainly could betray your friends" Pettigrew trembled even more violently, and his lower lip trembled slightly.

"Mr. Black, silence please"

"You betrayed and ruined the lives of the people who would have died for you, why protect this sorry son of a bitch who doesn't even _think_ about protecting you?" The crowd was now horrified at the thought Voldemort being alive. 

"Mr. Black…"

Remus placed a very white hand over Sirius' arm, Sirius nodded at him, and he didn't talk to Pettigrew again.

"Mr. Pettigrew, are you planning on telling anything to us?" Pettigrew's eyes were fixed in his lap again. He shook his head "Give him the Veritaserum" he called to one of the red-robed wizards. 

The wizard magicked the bottle to Pettigrew's mouth and, forcefully, dropped four drops into his mouth.

And like if someone had turned on a switch in Pettigrew's head, he answered every single question he was asked. Not only did he speak about the Marauder Times, and how much fun he claimed to have had, but he also spoke up about deciding he rather saw himself alive and in the dark side than dead by the hand of most powerful evil wizard ever. The room cheered and some let a collective sigh when Pettigrew finally admitted his being the Potter's secret keeper. He told, with details, how he fought with himself for a week, and on October 31st, he revealed to Voldemort the location of the Potters. 

Ron hugged Hermione while she started crying; Mr. Weasley kissed Mrs. Weasley, and the other Weasley children comforted Ginny as she also started crying. (And tried not to get to teary-eyed in the mean time)

Remus closed his eyes and the tiredness of the past couple of days washed over him. Harry let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. 

Sirius held his head in his hands. His, was the biggest, saddest and most sincere sigh of all. 

Pettigrew then gave testimony of the June '94 events (or rather spit it, because the Veritaserum influence was so great on him he seemed to have been put in fast forward). Much to the room's terror, he also told how he escaped to be reunited with his master… to help his master, and how he succeeded.

But by this time they had gotten out of Pettigrew all the confession they needed for Sirius' benefit, so Fudge quickly dismissed Pettigrew, who kept babbling about anything he was asked, before he could say anything too serious to get the Voldemort rumors out of Fudge's controlling hands.

After a good while when the jury scribbled madly on their folders, Fudge finally stood up and talked to the courtroom, but most especially to Sirius.

"Mr. Ollivander, an expert in wands as I'm sure you all know, has previously examined both Mr. Pettigrew's and Mr. Black's wands. Mr. Black's wand has been in possession of the Ministry for the last 14 years, locked in the Ministry's evidence room. Mr. Pettigrew's wand was in possession of his mother, when it was given to her after her son was believed dead. As you all saw, Matilde Pettigrew personally handed me the wand yesterday. Mr. Ollivander examined Sirius Black's wands, and indeed, found no traces of a Fidelius Charm on it. However, he did find traces of the charm in Peter Pettigrew's wand." 

He looked to the other jury members, who whispered something inaudible to him.

"We have heard all we needed to hear about Mr. Black, and we have presented the little physical evidence there is for this case. The verdict will be the majority of our votes, and it will be pronounced in this same room, tomorrow at 10 am sharp." That live gavel banged once as Fudge dismissed everybody and the jury dissaparated.

Suddenly, the next day seemed to be very far for Harry.

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONTINUED || ~~~~~~~~~~


	7. Silence and noise

Title: Judging innocence (7/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren and Questioner Andrae

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

------------------------------**__**

**__**

**_Chapter 7: Silence and noise_****__**

The day from July 19th to July 20th did not pass: it was stretched and dragged beyond recognition.

When they got back home, and after eating an oddly silent lunch, Remus went upstairs to get some well deserved sleep, and Harry set himself in his bed, hoping to get his mind lost in one of his Quidditch books.

A little while later, (it had actually been half an hour but Harry felt it as though it had been 3 hours) Sirius entered Harry's temporary room, and let him know he was going out for a while.

"What, going for a walk?"

"Not really… just… going for a walk, yes"

Harry eyed him intently "Where are you going, really?"

"You'll know, one way or the other, sooner or later. I hope it'll be later." He walked out of the room "I won't be too long. If there's ANYTHING wrong, wake up Remus."

"Okay"

**THE BURROW, an hour later.**

Mr. Weasley walked past his living room. He stopped just as he had passed it, frowned, and walked back the distance.

"Mr. Black! I knew I had seen an extra head in here"

"Call me Sirius, Arthur." He stepped out of the chimney.

"Sirius it is, then." He frowned again, but this time he was worried about something "Is there anything wrong? Is Harry all right?"

Sirius smiled "Yes, he's just fine. Nervous, if anything, but fine." 

"I can totally understand it, everyone in here too. Ron especially. This trial brought him a couple more freckles." Behind him, wearing an apron and still holding a fork in her hand, appeared Molly Weasley

"Arthur, wha- Oh hi Sirius. Everything ok?"

"Yes. I came here to talk to you two actually."

The Weasleys invited Sirius to sit down and let him speak.

"I have heard about you and Harry. I've heard from Harry himself, from Remus, from Dumbledore, and all of them agree you've treated him far better than his relatives have."

Mrs. Weasley frowned at the mention of the Dursleys. Sirius looked at her. 

"I personally have never met them, but Arthur has. And I am as worried as you are about a boy so sweet like he is having to stay with people like them"

"That's exactly what I'm speaking about. In five years, you have treated him like another son, while Petunia, his own aunt, has treated him like scum all his life. And I am extremely worried about what could happen to him if he has to stay two more seconds in that house."

"If we could do anything to help him…" began Mr. Weasley

"Actually there is. But it is something that I should have proposed a time ago because it requires a lot of thinking from you" The Weasleys looked at him, not quite knowing where he was going.

"I don't know what's going to happen to me tomorrow. Everyone says everything is going to be fine, even the Daily Prophet hopes that, but I don't want to run any risks, especially with Harry in between." He paused and searched for words "I am Harry's guardian, and If I sign the appropriate parchment, I can make anyone I want Harry's guardian"

Finally, the Weasleys understood. 

"Sirius, we-"

He held up a hand "If something happens to me tomorrow, either Azkaban or get Kissed, Harry will have to spend the next two years, and maybe even more, with the Dursleys, not to mention that Voldemort back into power puts him, and everyone around him, in grave danger. I understand you already have to afford for 7 children. Four, maybe because three of them are grown-ups, but Harry has the necessary galleons to-"

Mrs. Weasley looked to his husband with pleading eyes, who nodded, and cut Sirius short in mid-sentence.  "Sirius… It's already pleasure that you trust us enough to even think about making us Harry's guardians. How could we not accept?"

Sirius closed his eyes, let out a relieved sigh, and smiled back at the Weasleys.

"Then, if you don't mind…" he put a hand in a pocket of his robes and unrolled a single parchment. He had retrieved it an hour ago from the Ministry, where he had signed it, and all it was left to be legal, was the Weasley's signature. 

_I, Sirius Black, godfather and guardian to Harry Potter, make Arthur Weasley and his wife, Molly Weasley, Harry Potter's guardians. As long as I am healthy of body and mind and free, this form will have no effect on Harry's life. However, if I lose my freedom or else, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will respond for Harry as his parents would have._

He handed the parchment to the Weasleys, and once both of them read it, Mrs. Weasley magicked a quill from the next room. She didn't even hesitate to look up to Sirius or her husband, and signed the form, passing it then to her husband, and only then looking up at Sirius.

"I sincerely hope that by tomorrow afternoon this will have proven to be unnecessary"

-*-*-

If July 19th had been long at the Lupin house, the night to the 20th lasted forever. Everyone knew no one was sleeping, but it was better to lie in bed staring helplessly at the ceiling than spending the following 6 hours staring at each other stupidly or what would feel worse, making up boringly idle conversation.

Each of them had their own personal world of tortures.

Harry had the most horrible visions of Fudge pointing a long finger at Sirius and yelling 'Guilty' while a dementor gave Sirius it's deadly kiss. He saw time and time again Sirius falling to the ground, his soul sucked by the dementor and Sirius eyes' staring at Harry, a stare that was horribly empty. He fought hard not to scream at this, and it took all of his strength to do so.

Remus, on the other hand, also saw Fudge declaring Sirius guilty, but in his mind, Sirius was taken to Azkaban, where he was locked in a cell for the rest of his life and finally was driven mad.

But the worst world of the three was Sirius' one. Unlike Remus and Harry, Sirius knew what expected him if the jury declared him guilty. He knew what it was to have no happy feelings at all, to try and remember something good, something remotely happy… And all that would come to him was a deep depression, feelings of helplessness and sadness, wanting to yell out so loudly, as if yelling would make him feel better. He knew what was recalling his life and all he could remember and feel were the saddest moments in his life, brooding all over again on them. His parent's death. James' death. Seeing James' dead body. Lily's death. Seeing Lily's dead body. Remus being so angry with him after his joke on Snape, Sirius sincerely feared he would lose his friend. On the worst days though, only one feeling would come to him: wanting to die just to stop feeling that way.

That of course, if they didn't sentence him to a Dementor's kiss.

Sirius closed his eyes and tried to erase those thoughts from his mind. He tried thinking the testimonies had gone even better than he had thought, that even the long-lost Norman had appeared and revealed to the world his dark past to help Sirius. But what truly calmed Sirius down considerably was knowing that Harry would be the Weasley's responsibility, a whole wizarding family, and not the Dursley's, muggles as ignorant as there could ever be.

He let out a groan. 

"Can't sleep?" asked an extremely awake voice from his left.

"Sleep? What's that?" he sat up in his bed and looked at Remus, who was standing next to the window, staring at the waning moon. So lost he had been in his thoughts, he never heard Moony got up from his bed.

He got up too, went to the window, and looked outside. You could see Moony's garden from this window, very carefully preserved. Harry's snowy owl flew passed the window, heading for Harry's room with a dead rat in his beak. The light of the moon gave everything a blueish light, making the view from the window eerie, but beautiful.

"I'm going to try and make myself some mild sleeping potion" he said to Remus "Wanna help?"

He nodded, and went downstairs. Harry, who had just been to the kitchen for something to eat, met them halfway, and with his help the sleeping potion was ready in half an hour. They prepared enough sleeping potion to make them sleep for days, and no matter how badly they wanted to sleep for weeks and forget about the entire world, they only took five drops, for the five hours they wanted to sleep.

-*-*-

_The Daily Prophet, July 20th, 1995_

**V****ERDICT FOR ****B****LACK TO BE ANNOUNCED TODAY******

**~º~  
WATCH FOR THE EVENING EDITION OF THE ****D****AILY ****P****ROPHET**

_By Methilda Shotclear_

[Today's picture featured a very scared Peter Pettigrew quivering and shaking]

_For three days, over 20 people have declared in Black's trial, and after last week's capture of Peter Pettigrew, none of them thinks Black is guilty of anything but charming the people's hearts._

_Yesterday morning was Pettigrew and Black's turn to testify, as well as Norman Lathren's, a long-lost friend of Black._

_Right after Black's friend Remus Lupin finished his testimony, which was interrupted yesterday due to Mr. Lupin's licanthropy, Norman Lathren, a 37-year-old Magizoology expert who was abroad working, was called in to testify, and he swore to a testimony that helped Black greatly. It came as shock to everyone, even to Black himself to learn about Lathren's dark past, when he claimed that from the years 1978 to 1981 he was a Death Eater for You-Know-Who. _

_He and Black had met when they were 12 years old, after Lathren's mother had prohibited him to go to Hogwarts. Lathren claimed that over the summer Black taught him what he had learnt throughout the year. It was during one of these summers that Black brought his dear friend James Potter to meet Lathren. Lathren never met Lupin or Pettigrew._

_In 1981, when Lathren was still a Death Eater, he heard about the Potter's death and realizing in which side he truly was, he backed up, renounced to You-Know-Who and fled from the country. Lathren returned to the country years later; had his trial and, as he promised Black at court, he had killed no one, he was let free._

_Lathren's enormous help to Black came when he declared to have seen Pettigrew many times with You-Know-Who but never seen Black among them. _

_Black declared next, and as it has become customary of him, he added the humorous quota of the day. He said that his 'joke' on Severus Snape back when they were at Hogwarts was the result of Snape himself calling Remus Lupin (and I quote) "something way to nasty to say out loud in this court with minors present." Black whispered the nasty insult into the Questioner's ear, and the questioner herself declared that she also would have gotten mad at Snape. We can only speculate about Mr. Snape's vocabulary._

_The room broke into laughter as Black declared that all he had intended to do was to simply scare Mr. Snape out of his wits._

_Black also declared about the events that happened on June 6th, 1994, and the jury, and Fudge himself, was shocked to hear what Snape had hidden in his declaration. Black declared that Snape not only had threaten Harry and his friends with expulsion, but most of all, appeared to be extremely serious about getting the dementors not only to Kiss Black, but also Remus Lupin. Will the Minister and his men take action on this new information?_

_And then, the last to declare in Black's trial, and the one who everyone had been expecting, was Peter Pettigrew._

_Of course, 'declare' is the usual word used in these occasions, but the last thing Pettigrew did was declare. He muttered a 'no', babbled an 'I did' and as the jury was beginning to get angry, Pettigrew said the only sentence he was going to utter willingly: "I will not betray my master"_

_Pettigrew was administrated Veritaserum, and he answered every question like if his life depended on it. Which in the end, it's probably true, of course._

_Under the influence of Veritaserum, and much to Black, Potter and Lupin's (and this reporter's) relief, Pettigrew admitted to selling the Potter's location. Black's charm and sincere kindness and wittiness seems to have reached well beyond his tight circle of friends, and the whole room seemed relieved upon this declaration._

_All suspicions of You-Know-Who being back to power were later denied by the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. _

_And as the last action of this trial, Fudge presented the little physical evidence for this case: Black and Pettigrew's wands. Black's was in possession of the ministry and showed no traces of the Fidelius Charm, whereas Pettigrew's, which was in possession of his mother, did._

_Although the Jury took nearly a whole day to decide the verdict, nearly everyone is hopeful that today at 10 am sharp, the Jury will make justice and declare Black innocent. Pettigrew, on the other hand, is widely hoped to be left in a cell and leave him to rot for the inhuman act he did_

_Mr. Black, I have talked to many people about you over the last few days since Pettigrew was captured, and you have to possess quite a personality to charm the wizarding community in such a short time. _

_The Daily Prophet is with you._

-*-*-

Slow motion. Everything was in slow motion and yet happening so quickly.

Harry wanted the hours to be stretched till eternity to have more time with Sirius, but at the same time he also wanted everything to end up once and for all, as quickly as possible. The funny thing was, Remus was feeling exactly the same. The courtroom was so silent it reminded Harry of a funeral. Oddly enough, even the press was being silent, and the only sound heard where people softly walking around. Which of course, added more of an element to the funeral atmosphere. 

As he entered, Ron and Hermione tried to speak to him, but Harry looked at them in such a way that made them back up and chose to speak to him after the verdict, whatever it was.

Harry had barely noticed, but Sirius had had his hand clasped tightly in his own all the time.

Fudge stood up and addressed Sirius. "We have reached a verdict. Mr. Black, raise and stand before us." Harry now realized Sirius had been holding his hand and let go of him with a final squeeze. A small pause as Sirius walked to stand before Fudge. "By the majority of votes of eight against one, the Ministry of Magic grants you our full pardon and declares you completely innocent and free of any charges that might have been held against you."

Harry couldn't see Sirius' face, but it must have been one of a great shock, and great happiness, because he had to back up and support himself from the desk. Fudge started mentioning something about a ceremony, but he was silenced by the Weasley's cheers, and the room's applause.

Behind Sirius, Harry hugged Remus. For the first time in his life, Harry cried in public.

The live gavel banged once, but so loudly it left everyone in the room nearly deaf. 

"Mr. Black, it is customary in these cases to perform a small but obligatory ceremony in which you are given back your personal items that are in our possession, and any papers or forms or anything you might need to get back to society. It is a private ceremony, which only your family and closest friends, and of course the press, can attend. Guard." Fudge looked at the yellow-robed guard, who approached Sirius and not only took the AntiAps from Sirius' wrists, but also the tracker he had placed three days before.

"The ceremony will be performed this evening, at 7.30pm in the plaza that's a block from here. Until that moment…" the live gavel banged once normally and the jury dissaparated from the room. The guards kicked the press out of the room, saying that Black will declare later if he wished to do so.

Remus got up and stood in front of Sirius. He smiled broadly at him and they embraced each other like they had done two years before in the Shrieking Shack. 

"I told you you'd be let free. I told you" 

"I should have known. You are always right." He let go of him a very long moment later and Sirius turned around and looked at Harry, who was still sitting in his chair. "Aren't you happy?" he asked, obviously knowing the answer.

"Of course I am… I just don't trust myself to stand up" Harry smiled at him.

Sirius saved Harry the effort and pulled him up in a fatherly hug, only letting go when the 9 Weasleys and Hermione arrive, panting and gasping for air.

Hermione and Ron arrived running, happy as they had ever been, shouting "You're free! You're free!" The rest of the Weasleys took turns to congratulate him (which, given the fact there were 8 people, it took quite a while.) 

Then, much to Harry's surprise, Mrs. Weasley gave a piece of parchment to Sirius. "I am so glad it turned out to be unnecessary"

Sirius took the parchment, smiling at her and then looked at Harry. "Let's start my freedom without secrets. This is what I did yesterday"

Harry took the parchment and, with Ron and Hermione peeking over his shoulders, he read it out loud. When he finished, Harry was astonished, Ron was gaping and Hermione was biting her lip.

"I didn't want you to go back to the Dursleys"

Harry smiled a very grateful smile to the Weasleys, and then he handed the parchment to Sirius.

"Rip it." He said, and Sirius gave him a questioning glance "Tear it to shreds. You don't need it anymore"

And with a loud rip that everyone was more than happy to hear, Sirius was Harry's guardian again.

**__**

~~~~~~~~~~ || TO BE CONCLUDED|| ~~~~~~~~~~

_A/N: Don't go just yet! Don't miss the ceremony and Harry's birthday! _


	8. Scary Perfection

Title: Judging innocence (8/8)

Author: Fabs G.

Summary: After an unpredictable twist of fate, Sirius finally gets a trial… and everyone is called to testify….

Rating: PG-13 (for some swearing)

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's! All I own here is the plot and Daily prophet reporter Methilda Shotclear, Matilde Pettigrew, Normal Lathren, Questioner Andrae, and in this chapter, Nelly.

A/N: I swear I tried not to make it a Remus and Sirius slash. I did. I think I succeeded. It took a lot of swearing from my part, but I think I did. Enjoy. Review!

------------------------------**__**

**__**

**_Chapter 8: Scary Perfection_**

**__**

URIC THE ODDBALL PLAZA, July 20th, 7.46pm 

Now that Harry was thinking about it, he had never been to a wizarding square. It didn't surprise him much now that he was in one though. The only odd thing –but that seemed perfectly normal to everyone- was that the statues weren't quiet on their little platforms. They walked all around and across the plaza, some were trying to sunbathe, and some were working on the trees and flowers. Uric the Oddball was happily talking to a tree. The tree, of course, did not talk back.

The afternoon had been somewhat chaotic. They said goodbye to the Weasleys, although they would see them later that afternoon, and everyone set out to either buy or try their best robes. 

A ceremony was a ceremony, and that, implied dress robes. 

When his mother told him, Ron grunted thinking that he'd have to wear _his _dress robe in public, but luckily for him, the twins had gone shopping the past week with Harry's thousand galleons, and in the meantime bought their youngest brother a beautifully decent dress robe. They were planning on giving it to him as a start-of-the-term gift, but the occasion proved to be worthy and, as they wrote to Harry that very same day, Ron's ears went scarlet when he saw the robes and, what probably was a first in his life, he hugged them both. 

But things at the Lupin house had been worst. As Harry reflected just before the ceremony began, the afternoon hadn't been somewhat chaotic. It had been chaotic, period.

If Ron and his dress robes had made a fit, it was nothing compared to what Sirius did when he had to use dress robes. Apparently, Sirius had never been too fond of the long robes and cloaks, so getting him in a dress robe was hectic. At school, Remus told him, whenever he wasn't in classes, he wore muggle trousers and t-shirts, and this sometimes included lunch and dinner.

Luckily for Harry, Remus had experience with this. He claimed to have been the only one who convinced him to wear true dress robes for their 7th year Halloween ball, and judging by the stubbornness Sirius was showing, he would need his old techniques back.

"I am not going to wear that Moony, stop it. I am a free man now, and also, free to wear what I please!" As Sirius said the word 'free' the inevitable wide grin that had been in their faces all afternoon was born yet again.

Harry watched amused the scene in the sitting room as Remus shoved into Sirius' hands his new dress robes. There was an hour left till the ceremony.

"It's a wizarding ceremony, Sirius! You'll be the only one in muggle clothes! You'll stand out!"

"So? I already will, I'm the one they're asking for forgiveness" He liked to call it 'forgiveness' and not 'pardon'.

"Fine, fine you win. Wear whatever you want to wear." He smiled at Harry in a prankish way that Harry was soon getting accustomed to, a smile that would have made anyone else so nervous, it should be banned. Apparently Remus hadn't given up yet. "But bear in mind, that your Daily Prophet devotee will be there for sure. Remember in school, what wizarding girls that had never cared much about muggle clothes would do when you wore those jeans and t-shirts?" 

"They'd swarm me like damn bees. Once I had to throw a hex to be able to walk. Although they _were_ trying to invite to the ball…"

"Exactly. Imagine Methilda Shotclear, _in her mid-50s_, who publicly declared herself as being your fan, seeing you in that kind of outfit" Harry had the sudden image of a Mrs. Weasley type of woman sticking to Sirius closer than his own shadow did.

Remus seemed to have made his point crystal clear. Harry watched as Sirius seriously considered the robes and after about 10 seconds, tossed them back to Remus. "Perfect. It'll give her enough to write about for tomorrow's edition" And he left the sitting room, going upstairs to pick the best muggle clothes he had bought that afternoon.

A bell interrupted Harry's train of thoughts. A witch was ringing a bell, making everyone go silent. He was sitting in the front row of what were about 10 rows of large, church-styled seats. To his left was sitting Remus, and to his right were Hermione, Ron and the rest of the Weasleys.

In the back rows, where Dumbledore, Hagrid, McGonagall, and Flitwick. Everyone was smiling widely.

Cornelius Fudge, his face showing no particular emotion, climbed to the small platform in front of them and magickally enhanced the volume of his voice with his wand.

"Wizards and witches, we are here this afternoon to officially grant pardon to one of our kind. Someone who has been misjudged for thirteen years. Although the verdict has already been given and he _is_ free, this ceremony is celebrated so he will legally get his personal belongings back and any paperwork that he might need. Mr. Black…" 

Sirius climbed to the platform from Fudge's right, his growing hair perfectly combed, his face with the widest of smiles (though certainly not at Fudge) and of course, dressed in his brand new black jeans, a very white and slightly tight t-shirt that emphasized his biceps and a pair of black boots. For Sirius, black wasn't only a name, it was an attitude. Cameras flashed madly at him, maybe a little too madly.

Harry caught Hermione and Ginny gaping scandalously at him. Both of them turned very red when they noticed Ron and Harry looking at them. To be honest, even Mrs. Weasley gaped slightly at how handsome Sirius looked, but as she was a married woman, Harry thought it best not to brood about it.

"Mr. Black, when we imprisoned you, we locked these in the Ministry's' evidence room." Fudge gave Sirius a stack of photographs (which Sirius tossed to Harry saying they were for him, and Harry happily saw they were all from his mother and the marauders), some robes, watches and notebooks, and finally, Fudge gave Sirius his wand.

Sirius tossed the things to Remus ("Catch'em!") so he could receive his wand with both hands. He took it in his hands and, after 13 years of not touching it, the wand shook violently and threw black and white sparks to the air. Sirius smiled at his wand and kissed it as he whispered "my dear!"

"Mr. Black there is something else we've held in our power for all these years, but we cannot give it in your hands…" Sirius looked quizzically at Fudge. "Andrae, bring it please" Harry realized the witch who had rang the bell had been the trial's questioner. 

Andrae climbed down from the platform and magicked something back onto it…

"My bike!" Sirius squealed in happiness and hugged his flying bike. 

Andrae smiled at him "It has been approved by the ministry. You are also free to ride it"

"Before you continue to squeal in happiness, Mr. Black…" Fudge turned to a table behind him and started handing Sirius many parchments. "Although I doubt you'll need it, this is your freedom certificate… this is your old wizarding ID… this is a new one, an updated one… this are the titles to your old house, although by the state of it I recommend you hire a MagiArchitect as soon as you can… the certificate for your flying motorbike… and this, should you and Harry want it, are adoption papers. Except for the fact that they haven't been signed by you, they are perfectly legal"

There was a dead silence. Even the press seemed to understand the importance of the moment. Harry stared at the papers, nearly transfixed. All the Weasleys, Hermione and Remus was looking at Harry. Sirius looked at the papers and then at Harry, who shifted his gaze from the papers to Sirius' face. Without even thinking it, he nodded eagerly.

From his right, Fred's voice was heard ("Wingardium Leviosa!") and he sent a self-inking quill in Sirius' way. "Oy! Padfoot!"

Sirius caught it expertly and before signing it, looked again at Harry. He narrowed his eyes at him, silently asking him the obvious question. Harry limited himself to smile at him. From his left, Remus voiced what a little voice in Harry's head had been bellowing loudly "Stop beating about the bush and sign it already!"

The press' cameras flashed madly again as Sirius signed the adoption papers.

-*-*-

_The Daily Prophet, July 21st, 1995_

**SIRIUS BLACK FREE!**

**~º~  
****H****E WAS GRANTED FULL PARDON BY THE MINISTRY**

**~º~  
****H****E LOOKED SPECTACULAR IN HIS CEREMONY, IF I MAY SAY SO**

_By Methilda Shotclear_

[Today there were two pictures. The first one was, of course, of Sirius at the ceremony in his muggle outfit. 

The second one had been taken from a different angle and managed to show the front row's smiling and 

beaming faces as Sirius signed the adoption papers.]

_Who would have thought? When I started working at the Daily Prophet, my first article ever was about Black's 1981 arrest and further Azkaban imprisonment. Twelve years later, I wrote about his historic escape from Azkaban, and now two years later I'm writing about his freedom ceremony! It feels like I've known him all my life. _

_Yesterday morning, Minister of Magic announced the final verdict the jury had reached after three days of coming and going declarations about Black. Not only is Sirius Black free, but he was granted full pardon!_

_The usual freedom ceremony was celebrated later that day in the evening on the Uric the Oddball Plaza, where yours truly was the only Daily Prophet correspondent. Black didn't show up in dress robes, as the rest did, but in oddly entrancing muggle clothes that made him look so attractive, he left the female audience literally gaping, myself included. As he later told us, even though having been raised in the wizarding ways, he's always liked much more the muggle clothes, and he looked delighted to finally, be able to wear a "decent pair of jeans a t-shirt." In the ceremony, Black was returned his personal belongings, including his original wand, which he bought when he was 10 years of age. What Black seemed to appreciate more than anything was his old flying motorbike, for which the ministry has allowed it's enchantment and is now permitted to fly._

_Among the presents was the entire Weasley family, the Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore and two of the professors; the gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid; and of course, Black's two closest people: his Hogwarts friend, Remus Lupin, and his godson, Harry Potter. Or shall we say… son?_

_As it is customary in freedom ceremonies, Black was also given his IDs and freedom certificates but C. Fudge also offered Black the opportunity to adopt his orphan godson, Harry Potter. Black and Harry exchanged meaningful glances and after Lupin told Black to "Stop beating about the bush and sign it already!" Black signed the forms, and in less that 5 minutes, Black was Harry's father._

_When I mentioned this to them, both were very reluctant to call each other father and son, especially Black, whose loyalty to his friends has proven to be greater than death: "James was Harry's father. James is Harry's father. James will always be Harry's father. That will never change. I am merely Harry's godfather and now, the only one responsible for him to the law. That's it."_

_I approached Black, and asked him something that had been nagging me all day: What he planned to do now with his recently acquired freedom. Black thought for several seconds: "I haven't had time to think about it actually. In the immediate future, enjoy this last month of Harry's summer holidays, and give him the best birthday ever. We'll see after that." When I asked if he was planning on returning to his Auror training, Black's face went somber and quickly checked for his godson, relaxing visibly when he saw he was chatting with his friends. "You will probably see very soon. It's something along that same line of work, and I am sorry to say, that you will find out very soon" His face however, told me that this was not one of his jokes. It left me quite disturbed actually and, truth be told, my first thought was of You-Know-Who._

_But, disturbing dead wizards aside, the evening proved to be one full of laughter and joy. When the ceremony ended, the Weasleys, Harry's friend Hermione Granger and Harry himself left to prepare a celebration at Lupin's house to celebrate Black's freedom. As for Black himself, he chose to take advantage of the dark night and left for his friend's house in his flying motorbike. When he winked my way, he looked like the happiest person I have ever seen._

_Whatever you are planning to do in your future, Mr. Black, I feel truly glad we have you on our side._

July 31st, 1995

Life was so good now it was scary. 

It had been 10 days since the verdict, and a week since they had gone to the Dursley's to pick up Harry's few belongings and no one had talked about moving from Remus' house. Of course, the only other possibility, and a ruled out for that, was Sirius' house, which needed heavy work on it. (Harry had visited it about three or four days after the Verdict day, and he was afraid it was going to fall down at any minute. Half an hour later, Sirius had hired a whole troop of MagiArchitects)

The trial had been short now that he looked at it from some distance, but the stress, nerves and worry Remus and him had gone through for Sirius had unknowingly brought Harry and Remus closer and past the professor-student barrier there had been in between before the trial.

The only time Harry thought about moving out of there and alone with Sirius, he found himself worrying about Remus. Sirius and Remus seem not only to want, but also to need to be near the other. Harry knew that they had gone through a lot together and separate, and after 13 years of thinking your friend is a betraying murderer and suddenly discovering he is innocent, must take its toll on someone's mind, so Harry chose not mention anything about the moving subject. 

Plus, he was perfectly happy to be there. Sirius and Remus together were a sight worth to be watched. As Voldemort cut their younger years short and threw them into adulthood abruptly, they seemed to be catching up on that too, and there wasn't a day when they didn't remember an old prank and used Harry as the target, to later dissolve themselves into laughter.

Harry, having had a family life of zero love and zero fun, couldn't be happier about this.

But today had been so strange. It was already 5 in the afternoon and there had been no pranks. No "Do you remember the time when…?". No fun. No explosives. 

_No Birthday greetings_. 

Normally Harry would have thought it perfectly normal, as the Dursleys had always expertly ignored his birthday, but Harry reminded himself he was now living with Sirius and Remus, and this situation was extremely preoccupying. 

They had acted like in a true normal day, everyone in their individual work. Harry had a huge pile of homework for Hogwarts, Remus had found a temporary job teaching a crippled but powerfully magical girl that came home everyday (she was very proud and insisted to come to Remus' home), and Sirius had left early in the morning, most probably to check how the things were going at his old house.

What was even more worrying, he hadn't received any birthday greetings from the rest of the 'world'. Harry had searched the skies for an owl from Hermione, or Errol or Pig or even Hermes, the Weasley's owls, or a Hogwarts owl from Hagrid, but the only thing that were in the skies today were some few scattered clouds and the blazing summer sun. Hedwig, meanwhile, was comfortably sleeping in her cage.

He checked out of the window once more and went downstairs, sick of writing for History of Magic, to check if he could help Remus and Nelly with anything, but shockingly, neither Nelly nor Remus were there.  He went outside (maybe today Nelly was receiving a practical lesson) only to find the garden empty. He was about to go back inside when something caught his attention… a bottle brush tail slowly going under one of the bushes.

Harry pulled the bottlebrush tail to reveal a big ginger cat with a squashed face.

"Crookshanks! How on earth did you…?" And it hit him. If Crookshanks was here, at least Hermione had to be nearby. "Hermione?" he called, getting no answer. He called her again, but the only answer he got was Crookshanks' purring.

He turned around to check inside, but Crookshanks, with his paw, grabbed Harry's jeans, and walked in front of him, as if wanting to lead him. Harry looked at the cat for two seconds and then, shrugging, followed him all around the house, only to end up in front of the main door. Crookshanks just stood in front of it.

"Weird cat…" he muttered and he turned round to head to the back door. Crookshanks ran and placed himself in front of him, and hissed and spit. 

Harry looked at the door, and back at the cat. "You seriously want me to knock on the door of an empty house when the back door is wide open?"

Crookshanks meowed happily, and Harry could not believe he was answering the demands of a cat. He went back to the door and, feeling utterly stupid, he knocked. 

"There, see? No answer"

Surprisingly, someone from the inside said 'Alohomora!' and the door opened slowly and noiselessly. 

Harry stepped in apprehensively, with Crookshanks beside him. It was so dark inside, one would have thought it was midnight and not 5:30pm. He squinted, trying to see anything at all, but failed. Suddenly, someone moved a curtain, and a thin streak of sun illuminated a fiery red head. Harry smiled.

"All right…" the door closed behind him "I saw a redhead, so I won't throw off a curse…" Someone giggled "But if you don't tell me who you are, I might throw a hex. Who's in here?"

It was some sort of explosion. Harry was sure of it. One second, everything was dark and silent, the next, everything was illuminated, the room fabulously decorated, and seven people screamed a Happy birthday worth of leaving anyone deaf. 

He received the biggest group hug he had ever been given as Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny hugged him at the same time, nearly leaving him breathless.

Harry could not believe how they had decorated the room in such short time, when he had been outside. He marveled at their speed. The room was blazing in colors, and a banner hanging from the ceiling read 'Happy 15th Birthday Harry' in Gryffindor-colored letters. In the center of the room stood a table full of gifts.

Sirius was practically beaming as Harry received everyone's greetings. When he was finished he crossed his arms over his worked-out chest and looked at him and couldn't stop an amazingly big smile from being born in his lips. "Suffered too much today?"

"Not only you didn't greet me" he stole a grin from Remus "But you disappeared for all the bloody day!"

"Language…" warned Sirius.

Behind him, Remus unsuccessfully attempted to stifle a laugh. "Look who's talking"

Sirius glared at him and then pulled Harry into the obligatory birthday hug. "Okay, birthday boy, go open your presents."

Harry sat in front of the gift table and grabbed the one he had closest. From behind, Sirius' hand snatched the present form his hand. "This one later"

Harry shrugged and grabbed another one, which happened to be Hagrid's. He opened it to find the 'New and Revised Fantastic beasts and Where to find them' (Very Special Edition.)

_Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! _

_I bet this one is going to be real good, eh? Sorry I can't be there, Sirius invited me (He said it was almost obligatory for me to be there) but there's a lot of work around here, as you probably know. I'll go visit soon, though. I promise._

_Don't take too lightly the book I sent you. Not only are we going to use it this year, but it's especially enchanted to, when you open it near an animal, it'll magically tame the animal for you to enjoy him. Don't try it with the XXXXX rated animals! _

_I'll see ya soon! You'll still be there in Remus' house, won't you?_

_All the best,_

Hagrid

Harry smiled at Hagrid's letter and couldn't wait to try the book. But knowing everyone was.. wait... Harry reacted…

He looked at Sirius "You talked to Hagrid?!"

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, we settled some things, he asked my forgiveness about a hundred times, I told him it wasn't necessary about a thousand, and then I invited him." Harry thought of this as another birthday present.

Harry moved on to next gift. It had a small card that read "_Happy Birthday! Love from, Hermione and Ginny_" It was a small present, thick but barely the size of a common photograph. Harry tore the paper to reveal that it indeed, was a framed photograph. 

Ginny spoke to him. "Place your hand over the glass. Place it again to stop it on any of them" Harry did so, and the picture started changing… Ron, Hermione and Harry at Hogwarts…. More of Ron and Hermione… The Sirius, Harry and Remus Daily Prophet photograph that had been taken during Hagrid's testimony… Sirius at his ceremony… His parents, when they were still at Hogwarts…. Sirius and Remus, when they were still at Hogwarts… Remus and Sirius in their animal alter-egos… and Remus, Sirius, James and Lily together, all four with their arms around each other… Harry placed his hand on it, and the picture froze. Harry's parents were concentrated one each other, oblivious of the two teenagers by their side, who were laughing happily at their friends' obvious love for each other. Harry looked at Sirius and Remus, who were deeply concentrated on the picture, smiling at it and each other as they probably remembered the occasion. He looked at Hermione and Ginny. "Thank you" Two simple words, but both girls got all the meaning there was to it. 

Next came Ron's gift: The newly published 'The Seeker's Bible' by Roderick Plumpton. "Wow Ron!" He skimmed the book, and he could hardly tear his eyes of it to open the next present. 

The next gift turned out to be Fred and George's (Happy Birthday Harry! Gred & Forge) It was a huge box, and Harry looked at it or a long while. "I'm actually scared of opening it" he looked at them smiling.

"Go on. I bet even _they_ will enjoy it" said George, looking at Sirius and Remus.

Harry opened it, and gaped at its contents for a good while.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes of all kinds. It was going to be one fun year, the next one.

"Oh. My. God." He grabbed one of the fake wands and gave it a wave. In one second, he had his hand covered in green goo, and he hadn't even finished saying 'ew' that the goo evaporated.

Everyone broke into laughter. 

"Thanks. I'll make good use of it…" 

"We are sure of it…" smiled the twins.

From behind Harry, two hands appeared and launched themselves to the box. Harry slapped them both.

"No you won't. It's my birthday gift." Sirius and Remus seemed thoroughly disappointed

"But we'll make good use of it too!" said Sirius, trying to place an innocent look on his face. He failed.

"Yeah, you should know that better than anyone, Harry…" Remus smiled and beamed at him.

Harry glared at them mockingly "My legs still hurt" he said simply. Harry explained to the rest how yesterday Sirius wanted to know if he still 'had it' when it came to enchant stairs. It turns out he did. Remus helped him enchant the stairs so that one of the steps would disappear when you stepped on it. The curious thing was, they 'accidentally' forgot to tell Harry about it, and he ended up falling, literally, into the stairs. It looked like the stairs had sucked Harry's legs. Of course, they got him out eventually, but only after taking a couple of very good photographs.

"All right!" Remus stopped the explanation before it was turned into a flood of accusations. "It's time for my gifts"

Harry looked at him "You said 'gifts'?"

"I did" and he handed Harry two packets. One was long, a little thicker and shorter than a wand box. The other was square box, barely thicker Harry's hand.

He opened the long one first. It contained a simple-looking quill.

"Wait… don't say anything" Before Harry thought he had gone a little mad, Remus handed him a piece of parchment. He placed the parchment over the table, and the quill, which hanged over it on its own, over it. "Say anything."

"Anything" Harry hadn't finished saying the word that the quill had already finished writing. "Wow! That's my handwriting!"

"Yes. Not only is it self-writing and it's also quicker than you, it's also self inking. I had one like that when I was your age, great help when it's past midnight and you are still in the common room working."

Sirius looked at him, gaping "That's why you went to bed earlier than anyone else!"

Remus grinned at him "Hey, I needed the sleep!"

Sirius frowned "One day you started staying as late as anyone else. What happened?"

"Apparently James thought it unfair that I had such a help, so he _unfortunately_ sat over it. It was crunched to bits." Sirius dissolved himself in fits of giggles.

Hermione spoke to the quill, and the quill wrote again, this time in Hermione's tiny handwriting. It did again for Ron's big handwriting, and Fred's oddly stylized one. Soon, everyone wanted one.

Harry moved on to Remus' second packet. (_I believe Ron and Hermione will find a good use to it too. Happy Birthday, Harry._) He opened to find a piece of parchment. Wait…

"The Marauder's map!" Harry yelled, happy to see it again

"But McGonagall had it!" interrupted George

"Believe me, it took Sirius and I a lot of talking to convince Dumbledore to give back to us."

"In the end we convinced him telling him it was rightfully ours" interjected Sirius. 

"Although, Harry" Remus and Sirius pushed Ron and Hermione from the table and sat at both sides of Harry "We've done a little work on it"

"Try opening it" Sirius was definitively enjoying this.

Harry took his wand and solemnly swore that he was up to no good. But the map did not 'open'

Everyone opened wide their eyes, Fred and George's a little terrified. All eyes were resting on either Sirius or Remus. 

Sirius took Harry's wand and the map, and tapped it three times. "_I solemnly swear I am about to pester someone_" The map did open this time, and the old reliable was back again in front of everyone's eyes, although a little changed. 

_Messrs. Moony, Padfoot and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers_

_For over 20 years_

_Proudly present_

**T****HE****M****ARAUDER'S****M****AP**

Harry looked at it and thought the change was good. He soon found Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Filch, Fang and even Dobby and Winky.

"Sirius and I realized only yesterday, right after we got the map back that Snape now knows how to open it"

Harry grimaced "Of course! Awful situation it would have been…" he said, looking at the werewolf on his right. Remus smiled back and shook his head recalling. He had saved him from Snape once, and Harry would have been ready to bet Hedwig that it had taken all of Remus' might to hide his surprise at Harry having _that_ map on his hands.

"So we thought you'd appreciate it to have it back changed, and also updated"

"Yeah, someone's membership expired" Said Sirius staring sadly at the map for one second and then beaming like before in the next. "So time for my gifts." Sirius tapped the map to close it ("Professor coming!") he waved the wand in the direction he had left the packet, neatly wrapped and with a beautiful bow and a card. Before handing it to Harry, he smiled at Remus. Should Harry expect another prank?

"Harry, do you know what a Realitizer is?" Ron, Ginny, Fred and George aaahed at him "Shush you"

"Not really"

"Better then"

He took the card and read it

_Dear Harry,_

_First of all, Happy 15th Birthday! _

_It's probably just another birthday to you, but for me it's the first I can truly spend with you, so I wanted to give you something special. Two special somethings, actually. This is what I did today. I went to London, to Gringotts (where the goblins gave me the nastier look you could have gotten) and retrieved these from my vault. I put them there on 1981, just before my little pursuing._

_I won't say 'hope you like them' because I know you will._

_Love,_

_Your godfather,_

_Sirius_

Harry opened the packet and found two things. One of them looked like a detached lens from a camera. The other was a book, scarlet and with two golden initials that were peeling off: 'JP' He opened it, under expectant surveillance not only from Sirius but from Remus as well.

Harry opened it and saw five different handwritings.

James Potter proudly presents 

Hogwarts – years 1 thru 7 

(In curly letters, glowing before the Hogwarts logo)

Starring:

**_Sirius Black_** (Sirius had sign his name, as had his friends)  
A.k.a. The annoying girl magnet (James' handwriting again)

_Remus Lupin_

A.k.a. The annoyingly lovable prankster werewolf

**Peter Pettigrew**

A. k. a. The blonde rat

_Lily Evans_

A.k.a. The astounding redhead (a little red heart had been drawn)

"Oh my God… Is it...?"

"You father's diary. Save it for bedtime reading. You'll have a good time"

Remus suddenly seemed to have remembered something "Sirius… what about…?"

"uuumm yeah. Harry you should know that I took the liberty to hide the entries James wouldn't have wanted you to read somewhere safe…"

"Of course" He very reluctantly put the dairy back in the box it had been before and picked up the detached lens. Before he could even ask what it was, everyone was moving. Someone pulled his chair back, with Harry still on it, and while Hermione and Ginny cleared the wall in front of him of pictures and clocks, Ron, Fred and George moved the table out of the way. Clearly, he was the only one who was lost.

"Wha-"

Sirius put a finger to his mouth and took the lens, or rather Realitizer, and with Harry's wand made it hover in mid air, right in front of the wall. Sirius tapped it with the wand and said what had to be some kind of password "James Potter and his minions!"

As everyone began to settle down again, Harry with Sirius and Remus still at their sides, the Realitizer began to tremble violently. It glowed, and then threw a thick cloud of smoke to the air. 

Harry first saw a head full of unruly hair, and for a moment he thought he was glancing at a mirror. The head turned out to be his father's as a 3D image of him emerged from the Realitizer, and behind him, Harry recognized the Gryffindor common room. He didn't seem a day older than 15. The resemblance was uncanny, and his friends gasped when they saw James. They glanced at James, who seemed to be talking to someone to his right, and at Harry, as if wanting to check if the smoky boy in front of them wasn't Harry himself.

James waved an impatient hand to his right. "Moony, stop it or I'll hex you!"

A smoky Remus appeared from James' right and placed himself in front of James, nose to nose. He too, looked 15. Remus and Sirius laughed at Remus' younger version. "Try"

James shuddered at his friend and backed up. "I hate it when you look at me like that! You could even scare Snape"

Remus smiled "Great idea!"

"Oy! Guys! Stop it!" a squeaky voice said. Pettigrew was behind the Realitizer.

A 15-year-old, muggle clothes-wearing Sirius appeared on James' left. Harry looked at Hermione and Ginny and their useless efforts at trying not to gape at him. They closed their mouths and giggled.

 "Jamsie-boy…  Remmy… Pete… everything ready?"

Three voices agreed. James and Sirius disappeared from view and Smoky Remus took the Realitizer from where it was and moved it. The other three boys were seen again, standing next to each other.

Sirius lifted up his left index finger and placed his other hand over his heart. "We are about to record a historic moment. What you are about to see will be known throughout generations, and all Hogwarts students will admire us for what we are: Heroes!" (Everyone laughed at him. Fred and George cheered)

James and Peter rolled their eyes at him. From behind the Realitizer, Remus voice told him to shut up and transform already.

The three boys shut their eyes. 1995-Sirius explained that they had been practicing for days, and that that was the first moment they truly transformed.

Peter transformed first. As he was so short, the rat nearly went out of sight.

Sirius transformed next, and the familiar black dog was now wagging his tail at Remus. James transformed next, and the most impressive stag appeared. 

"Wow" It was the first time Harry saw his father transform. Or for that matter, the first time he saw his father for such a long time.

Smoky Remus seemed to have placed the Realitizer somewhere safe because he could be seen, gaping and smiling at them. He patted the dog's head (who placed his two paws in Remus' chest and licked his cheek), then patted the impressive stag, who moved his head up and down and then moved on to the rat. 

From the Realitizer, a noise was heard, and in a second, James, Sirius and Peter were back human again. From behind them, a 15-year-old Lily Evans appeared, asked them what they were doing there at such an ungodly hour and Smoky Remus ran to turn the Realitizer off. 

There were many like these. One of them showed Harry's mother studying in the library (obviously taken by James), the other showed a yellow-haired, 15-year-old Snape, and there was even one that showed Sirius and Remus wrestling in their canine forms.

The Realitizer was turned off an hour later, as Sirius and Remus claimed there were over 7 hours of filming in them. As everyone was nearly starving, they didn't complain. 

Harry had the best birthday of his life, and the day soon gained its position as the best of his entire life. Remus and Sirius had prepared a huge cake, which exploded in everyone's faces, and then brought a second -and edible- one. 

At about 10 o'clock, Mr. Weasley appeared in the fireplace, to pick up his sons and daughter and take Hermione to her house. Remus and Sirius, with Harry's help, cleaned everything that had been left from the party. None of them was feeling sleepy so they settled themselves for another hour and a half of Realitizer. 

They went to bed at midnight, and as Harry was entering his room, he called to Sirius, who was entering to his own.

"Sirius?"

Sirius turned around and looked at his godson "Yeah?" 

Harry smiled widely at him "It's not just another birthday"

Sirius smiled back, a grateful smile, a let out a sigh. Before any of them knew what was happening, Sirius had pulled Harry into a tight hug. They stood like that longer than any of them was accustomed to, feeling close the only family they had in the world.

They finally broke the embrace and Sirius ruffled Harry's head with his hand. "Goodnight Harry"

"Goodnight"

From the barely opened bathroom door, Remus spied the whole scene, and smiled at them. Everything had been perfect for days, but with that embrace, Remus felt for the first time that they could really face anything that might be coming in the future. 

Voldemort included.

-*-*-*-*-*- The End! -*-*-*-*-*-

A/N: Did you enjoy?? Review!! :)


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